


The Intern

by ssalemghostss



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, ReyBen, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-06-04 17:22:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6667633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssalemghostss/pseuds/ssalemghostss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben Solo has worked at Dark Star Publishing Inc. for seven years, eventually gaining the polished title of Editor-in-Chief. Despite his success, though, he still finds himself dissatisfied with his life and his job. His employees think him bitter and prickly and he gives them no reason to think otherwise. Corporate has hired a new intern to work under Ben, much to his displeasure. The two struggle to find neutral ground. He proves impossible to impress and she proves impossible to ignore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Just putting the first chapter out for a test run! Based on a prompt I received on Tumblr a few months ago. Please let me know what you think and I hope to continue this work! :)

Hot water cascaded down his back as he stood half-asleep in his one-person shower. He felt only half-alive that morning, which was a significant step up from the usual. He still felt the same pain in his head, though; right against his temples. It had become more of a dull ache over the years; nothing but a slight yet regular hindrance on his mornings. Typically by the time he got to work at eight o’clock the worst of it was over.

 

            He was not looking forward to work that day. He was getting an intern he had never asked for; corporate was simply throwing one at him and adding to his mountain of responsibilities. He loathed the ass-kissing and self-promoting that went on when there were new interns. It drove him up the wall hearing pathetic hopefuls drone on and on about their goals and abilities. It was even worse because this was not a standard interview for a position; the poor sap already had the job thanks to corporate. He couldn’t just give him the usual treatment: a simple “we’ll let you know”, followed by a firm handshake and a brief glance at a folder that would be put in the trashcan later. Whoever had been unfortunate enough to be granted this job was going to annoy Ben five days a week for up to a year or more. Needless to say, Ben Solo was not in a favourable mood that day.

 

            He turned the taps and shut the water off, taking a second to relish in the warm steam contained within the shower before stepping out where it was significantly chillier. He was dripping all over the place but he just tied a towel around his waist, pushed his sopping wet hair out of his eyes, and left to get dressed.

 

            On an average day it took him twenty-five minutes to get from his driveway to his parking stall at work. It would take him twenty, but he drove a rather nice, rather expensive car, and he savoured the time he got to spend in it. If it meant he had to leave his house five minutes earlier, he didn’t mind one bit.

 

            The receptionist, Elsa, always said hi to him when he walked in, despite the fact that he never said it back. She was a middle-aged smoker with one divorce under her belt and no kids. He knew she didn’t like him anyway and he preferred it like that. On that day, though, Elsa was out and a new girl was in. She looked fresh out of college with big eyes and a nervous expression. She gave him a weak smile when he walked in. He responded with an unflinching impassivity and continued on into his office, where he promptly shut the door behind him.

 

            Being Editor-in-Chief of a massive publishing company was certainly a tougher job than he let on; then again, he didn’t care about his job enough to complain about it openly that often. He dealt with things as they came the best that he could and that was that. There were piles of papers on his desk that he had yet to sift through and were due to his superior in two days. He eyed them with distaste and resentment while setting his briefcase down and removing his jacket. With a sigh, he settled in at his desk, checked if he had any messages (he didn’t), and set to work. _Book 1 of 3: page 1 of 72._

 

            He was barely onto page 12 when the intercom on his desk buzzed loudly. Displeased at the disturbance, he slammed his finger down on the button to respond.

 

“Yes?” he snarled.

 

            “Your new intern is here, sir,” The voice of the new girl at the front desk crackled slightly over the intercom.

 

            _You mean the one I never wanted in the first place? Lovely._

 

            He sighed. “Send him in.”

 

            “Um, actually, i-it’s a girl, sir,” she stammered.

 

            He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, not replying to her. “Even better,” he grumbled. He continued to squeeze the bridge of his crooked nose and his fingers felt the familiar bump of the scar that ran diagonally across his face from his left brow to his right cheek. It was thin; pale white, barely recognizable from a distance. It was simply a relic of some past life; that’s what his mother used to tell him. He had yet to take a stance on reincarnation, however.

 

            There were three short knocks on his door. Absentmindedly, he ran his fingers through his thick dark hair to push it out of his eyes.

 

            “Come in,” he called. _Let’s just get this over with._

 

            He pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up while he watched the door. A young lady entered carrying a small briefcase. She was a foot shorter than Ben, with soft brown hair pulled up into a well-manicured bun and wide doe eyes that were staring straight at him. He had hardly been expecting someone who appeared as professional as her to show up. She was wearing a black pinstriped pantsuit that made Ben’s white cotton button-down and red tie look frumpy and awkward. _Great, an overachiever,_ he thought, extending his hand. She took it with a firm grip and shook. They maintained eye contact the entire time, neither daring to be the first to look away until they took their seats.

 

            “Hello, my name is Rey,” she said cheerfully. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mr. Solo. Thank you so much for choosing me for the job; I promise you won’t regret it.”

 

            He tilted his head at her. She was a complete stranger, yet he was supposed to just trust her with important tasks and responsibilities? She looked like someone that would get his coffee order all wrong and more than once, too. Even worse, she’d probably try to argue with him to convince him that it really was what he ordered. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

 

            “Alright, first of all,” he said, “I had absolutely nothing to do with getting you this job; I told them I was just fine without an intern but Head Office thought otherwise. Thus, here you are.”

 

            She nodded, blinking behind the square-rimmed glasses she wore. She was staring at him far too intently for his liking. She should look much more frightened than that.

 

            “Second,” Undeterred, he continued, “it’s Ben. _Just_ Ben. Never address me with…with _that name_ again.”

 

            She nodded fervently, clicked her briefcase open and took out a notepad and pen. Ben squinted at the page in disbelief.

 

            “Are you…are you seriously writing that down?” he asked with a slightly disgusted expression on his face.

 

            “Yes. I write it down so I don’t forget it. I’d hate to offend you a second time.”

 

            He frowned. “Hm.” With a sigh he grabbed the file that had been sitting untouched on his desk for five days and began thumbing through it. Her resume was lengthy and impressive; at least, the parts he cared to skim over were impressive.

 

            _Excellent computer skills….4.0 GPA…graduated with honours…published a paper on literature of the 1800s...fluent in French, Spanish, German, and minored in Latin…_

            He raised an eyebrow and looked at her over the top of the file. “You seem a little overqualified for this job,” he said airily.

 

            She looked at him in puzzlement. Creases formed between her eyebrows. “Overqualified? Is—Is that a bad thing?”

 

            Ben sucked on his lower lip for a moment before shutting her file and shaking his head. “No, nope. Not at all. So, do you know exactly what we do here? I assume they briefed you on all of this…” He folded his hands together atop his desk and stared at her blankly.

 

            “Uh…” She laughed nervously. “Yes. I did my research before applying for the position, actually, believe it or not. You’re a publishing company; the biggest name in the business for the past thirty years.”

 

            Ben glared at her. She had more of an attitude than he had expected. He sensed it was going to be a problem. “Right. As an intern, though, you’ll be stuck doing the work I don’t want to do. That will include faxing things, copying things, making phone calls, booking appointments, dealing with all of the people I couldn’t care less about, and, well, buying me coffee. I like it black, by the way. Never, ever decaf.”

 

            “Usually that is the case with internships, yes,” Rey nodded slowly. “I intend to make it a valuable learning experience, though. See, I don’t intend to simply intern forever; I intend to be hired on by this company in a year or less.” She lifted up her chin proudly. Ben grimaced.

 

            “You make it sound easy,” he said calmly. “How do you plan on achieving this goal of yours, exactly? Remember, it’s me you have to impress if you want a permanent job here.”

 

            “I’ll impress you, you’ll see,” She smirked with confidence. “I’ll impress everyone.”

 

            “Mm. We’ll see.” Ben muttered. “Now go get me a coffee.”

 

            Rey stood up and gave him a nod. “Of course, Ben. Black coffee, not decaf, coming right up.” And she left.

 

            He watched her leave with an expression of bitter admiration. It wasn’t until she was gone that he sighed and resumed working on the large pile of papers sitting upon his desk.


	2. Jane and Rochester

Ben was bent over his desk scribbling on a manuscript, double and triple-checking his edits. He always made a few mistakes in the initial review, but by the last rough draft he had it done perfectly. He was extremely knit-picky about his job; he did it in a very specific way that had to end up being perfect or else he would be more miserable than usual. He chewed on his lips and lodged his fingers in his hair as he glared at the page he was working on. It was a rather boring piece of literature, in Ben’s opinion. Frankly, he was not pleased with having to read it more than once.

 

            A knock sounded at his door. Before he could permit entrance, Rey had the door open and was walking in. She had a stack of papers in her arms, which she set on his desk. Ben looked at them blankly and then at her.

 

            “Yes?” he asked. His fingers were still tangled in his hair.

 

            She blinked. “I finished the list you gave me,” she said. “These are those final copies you wanted. As soon as you check them over I can have them sent out.”

 

            Ben’s hand fell to the desk. “What? That was a two-page list. That should’ve kept you busy all day.”

 

            Rey shrugged and sat across from him, crossing her legs. He could see her fighting back a grin. She was really quite cocky; he had learned that quickly.

 

            “Yeah, I don’t know. I guess time was on my side today.” She answered in a distinctly fake modest tone.

 

            “Okay, well…thanks,” Ben mumbled, dropping his gaze back to the manuscript.

 

            Rey cleared her throat. “So…what else do you need done?”

 

            He looked at her again and shrugged. “I don’t have anything else for you to do right now.”

 

            “Well…I’m here until 5:00 and it’s only 3:30,” Rey stated. “I need something to do in that hour and a half.”

 

            “Really? You’d rather stay working than go home early?” Ben asked.

 

            Rey looked at him like he was sick. “Yes, of course!”

 

            He shook his head. “Strange…”

 

            “You must have something you need done,” She began looking around his office and her eyes locked onto his towering bookshelves. She raced over to one and ran her fingers along the spines of some of the books. “I can organize these if you’d like.”

 

            “They’re organized just fine.” Ben answered in a clipped voice.

 

            She grabbed a book and pulled it out, admiring the gold trim on the cover. It was a leather-bound copy of _Jane Eyre_ by Charlotte Brontë and by the looks of the pages it had been a popular read for the owner. A small giggle bubbled from Rey’s lips and she hastily put her fingers over her mouth to mask her impoliteness, but it was too late. Ben had heard.

 

            “What?” he asked with a voice like knives. “What’s so funny over there?”

 

            “N-nothing,” Rey shook her head. “I’m just admiring your, um, collection.”

 

            She heard the wheels of his chair roll along the floor as he stood up. Heavy footsteps came up behind her and before she could even try to shove the book back in its place he had taken it from her hand. A jolt of something akin to fear spiked her blood and she nervously peered up into his face. He was frowning at the book cover but his eyes gave nothing away. She couldn’t tell if he was angry at her or not.

 

            “ _Jane Eyre_ ,” he murmured, replacing it on the shelf. “Never read it.”

 

            Rey blinked. “You’ve never…not even in school?”

 

            He shook his head. “Never. I don’t care for petty romance novels.”

 

            “But then why do you own it?”

 

            “I don’t. It was one of the books that was here when I moved into this office.” He walked back to his desk to resume working.

 

            Rey followed him and sat across from him again, trying to mask the fact that she was ever nervous of his reaction with a calm voice. “Well, I for one enjoyed it. You should read it sometime. I find it has a lovely plot and message.”

 

            “If I had time to read anything other than the copious volumes of horseshit I’m paid to look over repeatedly…well, I still wouldn’t bother reading it.” He replied shortly.

 

            “That’s a rather pessimistic attitude for one of literature’s most proclaimed authors…” Rey responded.

 

            Ben looked at her through his eyelashes and frowned. She was beginning to bother him with her presence. “Look, why don’t you go around and see if anyone else has something for you to do? Just get out of my hair.”

 

            “That’s it? Just see if anyone needs anything?”

 

            Ben gave her a questioning stare. “What? Do you need me to command it of you or something?”

 

            “No, I just—”

 

            “I guarantee everyone else will have something they’d love for you to do. I have nothing for you right now. So just go throughout the department finding stuff to do. Stay in this department, though.” Again, he returned to the manuscript.

 

            Rey opened her mouth to speak but shut it again instead. She stood up without another word and exited Ben’s office. He was like a brick wall; unforgiving. She felt like no matter what she did he’d really just rather not have her around. Why did it have to be _his_ department? He was a lot harder to work for and impress than anyone she’d met before. It only made her more determined to gain his favour, though. Someday he would warm up to her.

 

            Once his door had clicked shut again and he could see her through the hall windows talking to someone else, Ben grumbled and stood up from his chair. Hesitantly, he walked over to his bookshelf again. His fingers quickly found the leather cover with the gold trim and he pulled it out. He stared at the gold foil writing on the front with the matching decals of flowers and vines intertwining themselves around the letters. He took it back to his desk and opened it. Skipping the preface, he began reading chapter one.

 

            ‘ _There was no possibility of a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed…’_


	3. For Hire

Rey shoved the new stack of paper into the copier tray and pushed it shut. Within seconds the machine was humming away again, producing page after page of the same thing. She watched it through vapid eyes. She was feeling off that day. It was the day she would be told whether or not she had a permanent position in the publishing company. Five months had blown by and judgement day was upon her. She wouldn’t be getting any sort of real promotion or anything just yet, but at least she’d be getting paid more and she’d have more opportunities to hone different skills. She was nervous, though. Ultimately the choice to hire her or not was Ben’s, and he’d greeted her with nothing short of a grimace and a glare that morning. No matter what she did he seemed to detest her, and she couldn’t figure out why. It made her stomach do a painful little flop every time she thought about it.

 

            “Rey, how’s it going?” Finn, who worked in advertising and web design, popped up beside her with material for copying in hand. He gave her his signature bright, white smile. His skin was the colour of warm espresso; Rey found him quite beautiful.

 

            “Hey, Finn,” She tried not to sound as morose as she felt but it clearly didn’t carry well.

 

            Finn frowned. “Everything okay?”

 

            She sighed. “I find out if I have a job here today. They’re discussing it right now.”

 

            “Shit,” Finn whispered. “How are you holding up?”

 

            “I’m so nervous,” she responded, gathering her warm copies from the tray.

           

            “For what it’s worth, you’re easily the best intern we’ve had at this place since…well, since I was an intern,” Finn said, chuckling heartily at his own joke. He gently elbowed Rey’s arm.

 

            She smiled, but it was shaky. “Thank you. Everyone seems to like me except…” Her voice trailed off into silence, afraid to overstep an unspoken boundary. She had only known Finn for a few months; how did she know he wouldn’t snitch if she said anything about Ben? He technically had the power to fire both of them if he wanted to. However, it turned out that she didn’t have to say a word more to Finn for him to grasp what she meant.

 

            “Ah, you mean Ben,” Finn mumbled with a nod. “I wouldn’t beat myself up about it if I were you. He doesn’t really like anybody.”

 

            Rey blinked at him. “Does…does anybody here like him?”

 

            Finn choked out a sputtering laugh of disbelief. “No! God, no. He’s the worst. Why? Do you like him? I guess you are his intern and whatnot…”

 

            “Well…” Rey chewed on her lip for a second, considering, “not really. I mean, he let me stay at this job so he can’t be all bad, but…he just never seems impressed by anything I do. Every time I see him and tell him about my progress he gets this look on his face like he’d rather I just stopped talking. I feel like he hates me being here for some reason but I don’t know what I did.”

            “You didn’t do anything,” Finn shrugged. “You don’t have to do anything for that prick to dislike you, he just will. He’s miserable; always has been. I think he has daddy issues or something. You know, his parents must’ve like, really messed him up or something. Or maybe he doesn’t have an excuse and he’s just as ass because he can be. Who knows? I sure as hell won’t be the one who asks him.”

 

            Rey nodded slowly, letting Finn’s words swim around in her head. She chewed on her lower lip as a mental image of Ben’s face floated into her mind’s eye. His furrowed brow, pursed lips, and eyes that refused to look at her anymore. What was his real problem? Like everyone else in the office, she couldn’t help but wonder.

 

***

            “So anyway, this department is in dire need of a new Editorial Assistant after Tony got promoted last month, and we think this girl is the best one for the job. You’re the department head, though, so what do you think?”

 

            Ben lifted his hooded eyes from his day planner, which was covered in chicken scratch writing and nonsensical doodles. He meant to direct his attention to Claudia, the woman from corporate that was preaching to him, but they were diverted by movement in the hallway, which he could see through the windows. It was the intern girl they were discussing, Rey, and that loud, overdramatic boy from the third floor. He must’ve told her a joke or something because she burst into laughter, which carried into the conference room. It was soft, but genuine laughter. Her smile was wide and bright, emphasizing her dimples with a dazzling brilliance. Ben’s mind began to wander to _Jane Eyre_ , that awful book with the gold foil on the cover. Although he had sat in bed reading it by lamplight, audibly muttering his confusion and disgust, he read it all the way through. He couldn’t quite explain why, either. With every page he turned he thought only of the myriad of reasons why a man like Rochester would and should never get the girl in real life and also of Rey, the way she’d spoken about the book like she’d read it half a dozen times. He felt persuaded to read it cover to cover.

 

            Without even thinking about it, Ben found himself speaking. His voice sounded quiet; lost in thought.

 

            “Yeah, she’d be great for the job. Let’s hire her.”

 

            “Excellent! I’ll get started on the paperwork right away. Who’s going to bring the good news to her?” Claudia had a huge, tacky smile plastered on her face. Ben struggled to refrain from cringing when he looked at her.

 

            “That better be your job,” he said flatly.

 

            Her smile faded and she gave him a funny look. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She began to gather up her things and head for the door. Before she left, she turned around to bid farewell. “I’ll see you in a few weeks, Mr. Solo. Have a lovely rest of your day.”

 

            Ben clenched his hands into fists on the tabletop. When he raised his eyes to first glare at the door where she had been, he found himself catching the eye of the intern turned editorial assistant, Rey. She gave him a nervous smile and a tiny wave. He relaxed slightly, although he didn’t return her gestures. He gathered up his things and walked out of the conference room, turning down the opposite hallway just in time to hear Rey give a squeal of delight followed by a rapid succession of thank-you’s. She had just heard the good news.

 

            He tried to make it to his office door as quickly and discreetly as possible, but right before he could unlock it someone called out his name.

 

            “Ben! Ben, wait up!”

 

            He winced, but paused. He turned around to find Rey running towards him with a large smile on her face.

 

            “I just wanted to really thank you for accepting me. You won’t regret it, I promise.” She said. She was overexcited and out of breath, causing the words to stumble out from her lips rather quickly.

 

 Ben squinted at her and suppressed a sigh. Why did he agree to this again? For some reason, he couldn’t recall.

 

“I hope I don’t regret it,” he said stiffly, “for your sake.”

 

Rey swallowed, taking a minute to compose herself. Of course it wasn’t the reaction she had been hoping for, but what could she expect? “Well…um, I should be going,” she mumbled. “I’ve got a deadline to meet; my first project as Editorial Assistant.” She tried to sound as grateful as possible.

 

Ben seemed to look right through her. “Congrats. Enjoy.”

 

“Right, thanks.” She said quietly. “I’ll, um, see you around then.”

 

He didn’t say anything in response. She walked off, leaving Ben to wallow in the awkwardness of it all as he entered his office. When he sat down in his chair he groaned loudly and ran his fingers through his hair. He was stressed to the max and now, because of his own stupidity and momentary lack of judgement, he was stuck with a nosy, obnoxious employee. There was no doubt that she was a good worker; even Ben couldn’t deny her efficiency. But she got under his skin, more than anyone else ever had, and it bothered him how easy it had been for her. All she had to do was walk in his office, flash him that dimpled smile of hers, and before he knew it he was staying up late to read a sappy romance novel just because she had mentioned it. He felt like he was spiralling out of control and it was a sensation he was not accustomed to nor one he enjoyed.

 

He squinted his eyes out the windows that faced the hallway. He could see her talking to that kid from advertising again; giggling away at whatever he was talking about. It made his blood boil. He groaned upon seeing her smiling at the punk like he put the sun in the sky and angrily turned in his chair to face the other way.


	4. Straighten Up

            “I swear she’s so annoying. It’s like corporate hired her just to have someone pissing me off five days a week.”

 

            Ben was stretched out on one half of his leather sectional, picking away at the remnants of a bowl of popcorn. He had a scowl on his face as he watched the soccer game progress on his television. A red-haired man with stark, pointed features was seated on the other half, coddling a half-empty beer bottle.

 

            “But you like her, don’t you?” the red-haired man asked.

 

            “She never stops smiling. I swear, exactly how her face muscles don’t just give up on her I’ll never know…” Ben continued.

 

            “But you like her?”

 

            “She just brags and brags and brags about all the shit she’s done. ‘I’ve been to Paris five times in the last ten years’; ‘I graduated college with a million different degrees’; ‘I’m so perfect; everyone loves me!’ I’d pay her just to get over herself.”

 

            The red-haired man nodded and tipped the bottle to his lips. “Ah. You like her.”

 

            Ben blinked at his only friend in the whole world. The ginger man was staring back at him with a shit-eating grin on his face. Ben glared daggers.

 

            “ _Like her_? You’re joking, right? Hux, I can’t _stand_ her! And now that she’s Editorial Assistant do you know what that means? They’re giving her a desk, Hux, in _my_ office! Now I have to listen to her talk about herself with little time in between.”

 

            Hux laughed heartily. “Good lord, you’re the worst liar, Ben, I swear it. First of all, don’t try and hide your pleasure at the fact that she’ll be closer to you; I can practically see the boyish glee in your eyes. Secondly, I’ve never heard you bitch about the same girl this much. Honestly, every time I see you you’ve got something new about her to go on about. You might try to hate everyone, mate, but you don’t hate _her_.”

 

            “What do you know?” Ben grumbled. “You don’t know her; you haven’t seen how awful she is…” His voice faded off into a weird, warped mumble as he put the rim of his own beer bottle to his lips.

 

            Hux lifted an eyebrow. “So are you going to give up the charade tonight or should I come back in five business days when you’ve had some sense kicked into you? Are you that deep in denial over this?”

 

            Ben growled, setting his beer down on an end table with a little more force than what was necessary. He glared at Hux – a common occurrence in their friendship – and bared clenched teeth. “Leave it alone.”

 

            Hux watched his friend for nearly a minute before finally shrugging and returning his attention to the game. Ben, however, could no longer focus on soccer. He sat stewing over their conversation in his head. He was too angry to pay attention to the television. Despite that, though, a little voice in the back of his head told him he needed to talk about it. Keeping it pent up inside and disguising it as hatred had already soured him enough; nobody could end his frustration but himself. Oh, but it would be hard. He’d never said it out loud before. Would that make it more real somehow?

 

            Quietly, he mumbled into the awkward silence, “I don’t _like_ her. I’m just… _intrigued_ by her. She makes me curious.”

 

            “Mm, curious how?” Hux asked, immediately returning his full attention to their discussion.

 

            “I can’t tell you that,” Ben shook his head. “But she’s strange. She has secrets that even she can’t figure out, I think. As much as she gets on my nerves…I can’t help but wonder who she is.”

 

            “Hm,” Hux pondered, running the tip of his tongue across his front teeth. “So what will you do about it? You can’t continue fake hating her on a daily basis. That’s what you do when you don’t want a lady to wrap herself around you.”

 

            “No, I don’t want—!” Ben paused and let out a sigh, regaining his composure. “I’m not looking for her to wrap herself around me. She’s just…I mean, she makes me feel all these things that I’ve never felt before and, well, I forget how to act. I just get mean. Like yesterday when she got hired on as Editorial Assistant, I completely blew her off and she was upset about it, I could tell. But I was the one who recommended her for the job! How does that make any rational sense?”

 

            “It doesn’t, mate,” Hux shook his head, “not one bit.”

 

            “God, what is happening to me?” Ben groaned, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “She makes me less human, somehow, you know? My emotions scramble when she talks to me; I feel like I can’t control what shit comes flying out of my mouth…”

 

            “Straighten up, Ben,” Hux said with confidence. “Offer her a ‘good morning’, or a ‘how do you do’ or something like that instead of a glare and a grumble.”

 

            “I want to do that, sometimes,” Ben admitted softly. “I mean to say good morning but what comes out is ‘did you make those copies I asked for?’”

 

            “And that’s why she probably loathes you,” Hux’s lips curled into a devious smile, “which must really get you hot for her.”

 

            Ben glared at his friend but when he couldn’t hold back a faint smirk he tried to cover it up with his beer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Huxley.”

 

            “Oh, come now! You have a weird thing for angsty situations.”

 

            Ben shook his head, still smirking. “Shut up.” He pointed at the television. “Your team is losing and in about twenty more minutes you’re going to owe me twenty dollars.”

 

***

            His keys jangled on their ring as he unlocked his office door. The night time cleaning staff had been in there and it smelled like Pine Sol and Windex. He wrinkled his nose as the aroma hit him and flicked on the lights. A new, smaller oak desk had been pushed into his office, on the opposite end of the room from his own desk. There was nothing on it but a computer and a mouse and he noted with some smugness that her chair was crappier than his. It was always a telltale sign of favouritism when a new employee got a better chair than someone who was higher up. That was something Ben had never been a fan of. When he had started as an intern he’d had a wooden chair behind a cramped desk.

 

            He walked over to his impressively large, finished desk with the comfortable leather office chair behind it, feeling slightly more content with his situation, and set his briefcase on the floor near his feet. He was just loosening his tie when the door clicked and Rey stumbled in, practically blind behind a massive box she was struggling to hold. She set it down on her desk with a heavy _thunk_ and panted a few times before noticing Ben was watching her. She straightened up immediately and gave him a dimpled smile.

 

            “Hi,” she said brightly.

 

            Ben’s lips moved to say something negative but Hux’s words of advice came flooding back to him quickly and he pursed them while he reoriented himself. “Good morning,” he said thinly.

 

            Rey blinked at him like he was an alien. “Oh,” she murmured pleasantly, “good morning.”

 

            _God, that’s pathetic_ , Ben thought to himself. _She’s surprised by me saying a simple greeting. Have I treated her so awfully? …Probably, yes._

 

            She began setting up her desk, positioning picture frames here, putting a potted plant there…she even began humming softly to herself. Ben didn’t recognize the tune. He himself had already set up for the morning; all he needed was a coffee. He was about to open his mouth to ask Rey to get one for him before he remembered she was no longer his intern and it was not protocol or even polite to demand her to run such menial errands for him. So he grabbed some change from his briefcase and was counting it as he walked towards the door. Halfway into the hall he froze, remembering that he was trying to be a nicer person. It took him a lot to suck up his pride and reverse back into the room a ways.

 

            “I should probably ask if you would also like a coffee,” he mumbled under his breath.

 

            Rey squinted at him. “I’m sorry? Didn’t quite catch that.”

           

            “Do you want a coffee?” His voice was strained. His teeth hurt from clenching them together so hard.

 

            “Oh! That’s very kind of you. I would love one, thanks.” She gave him her most dazzling smile. He noticed she had bags under her eyes.

 

            He was completely into the hall this time before he had to pause again. He winced. What the hell kind of coffee did she drink?

 

            Once more he walked back into the room, dragging his feet. He felt very childlike; like when his mother had to force him to apologize to the neighbour boy for kicking sand into his face when Ben was eight years old. And did she ever have to force it out of him.

 

            Ben cleared his throat. “Sorry…how do you take it?” he grumbled.

 

            Rey gawked at him for a second, colour flushing into her cheeks. “I…uh, take what?”

 

            Ben had to really test his patience on that one. After a breath or two he answered, “Your coffee.”

 

            “Oh…sorry, morning time and all,” Rey sighed, waving off her moment of cluelessness. “I take it black with two sugars, no more, no less. And _never ever_ do I drink decaf.” She smirked at him, finding her joke to be rather funny.

 

            Ben nodded stiffly. “That’s fair.”

 

            He left the room with the most pained scowl on his face that anyone had ever seen. Ben Solo was in a strange mood that day.


	5. Lunch Break

The only noise in the office was the sound of the clock ticking on the wall and the occasional mouse or keyboard click. It was so quiet Ben could hear his heart beating. It seemed a little faster than normal.

 

            He peered up through his stray hairs at Rey, who was seated across the room from him at her desk. She had her headphones on and was deeply concentrated on whatever was on her computer screen. Every now and then she’d write something down in a binder, do a little shoulder shimmy in her seat and refocus herself on the screen. The quiet was normal; the two hardly ever spoke to one another unless absolutely necessary, so small talk and polite conversation just came across as awkward and painful. They made a silent and mutual decision to just avoid it altogether. So everyday they would give each other a brief greeting, sometimes non-verbally, sit down at their desks and set to work. Rey would return missed calls, Ben would ignore his. She would put her headphones in and he hardly heard a peep from her for the rest of the work day unless her phone rang. It was easier that way.

 

            Ben’s stomach growled fiercely and he winced, clutching at it with his hand to get it to stop. Slowly, he chanced a look at Rey. She hadn’t heard a thing. It was a couple hours past lunchtime and all Ben had eaten that day had been a bowl of Cheerios and an apple. Pushing away from his desk and standing up, he made the decision to venture to the break room for some food and a chance to clear his head. Before he could make it through the doorway, however, a voice stopped him.

 

            “Are you going for lunch?”

 

            Ben looked over at Rey, who had taken out her headphones.

 

            “Um, yeah I was thinking about it,” Ben mumbled back. “Why?”

 

            “Mind if I join you? Great minds really must think alike, eh?” She grinned at him.

 

            They walked together to the break room in silence, which only made it easier to feel the eyes that were on them both. Ben felt especially awkward; normally he was only ever seen alone. It was just expected of him to repel people from wanting to be around him for longer than necessary, so having a partner for lunch in the break room was especially out of character. Rey, on the other hand, looked completely unabashed by the spectacle she was creating. She casually smiled at people as she walked by, ignoring the barely concealed look of shock on their faces. _What is with this girl? Is she incapable of reading a situation of any kind?_ Ben furrowed his eyebrows.

 

            The break room was empty except for an older employee seated at the back of the room, his head buried in a week-old newspaper. They both retrieved their lunches from the staff fridge and Ben took his usual seat, with Rey opting to sit right across from him. She hardly seemed interested in him, though. She dug into her paper bag lunch and pulled out a container of baby carrots, celery, and snow peas, which she happily began to munch on. Very consciously, Ben took a bite of his sandwich.

 

            “I always used to eat from the cafeteria at lunch, or go out somewhere,” Rey said. “But recently I’ve started making my own lunches and I’ve gotta say, I think I prefer it this way.”

 

            Ben wasn’t quite sure how to respond to her statement. He’d always packed his own lunch; it made it easier for him to eat it by himself somewhere quiet. Now that Rey was working fulltime and was always around him, though, he found the sparkle had dulled slightly.

 

            “Don’t you run out of ideas of what to pack yourself after awhile?” he asked.

 

            “Well, sure, I guess,” Rey shrugged. “Sometimes I have to repeat things, but it’s usually things I like so I don’t mind.”

 

            “I get tired of the same thing quicker than most, I suppose.” Ben frowned at his sandwich.

 

            “And yet you’ve worked at this same job for…how many years now? Twelve?” Rey raised her eyebrows at him in amusement.

 

            “Seven,” he corrected. “And this job pays me so that I can afford food and thus the opportunity to get bored of it. It’s a different situation.”

 

            “I guess that’s one way to see it,” Rey sighed, resuming her lunch of vegetables and what appeared to be dried fruit.

 

            After several minutes of silence apart from the sound of chewing and swallowing, Ben could feel Rey’s eyes on him. He hesitated, not wanting to acknowledge her gaze. But she wouldn’t stop staring until finally, he lifted his head and stared right back.

 

            Before he could say anything, Rey said, “Can I ask a question?”

 

            He paused for a moment before nodding.

 

            She used her finger to draw a diagonal line over her right eye. “How did you get that scar on your face?”

 

            He breathed an internal sigh of relief. For a second he thought he was going to be made the punch-line of another Scarface joke. In reality, the answer was nowhere near as interesting or dramatic.

 

            He shrugged. “Dunno. I’ve always had it. Doctor said I might’ve gotten it during the birthing process but my mother says that doesn’t make any sense. So she came up with some crap theory that it’s from a past life of some sort. I don’t believe that; I think it’s just some weird birthmark that I was unfortunate enough to have to carry for the rest of my life.”

 

            Rey’s expression softened. She looked at him with something close to sympathy and understanding. Ben didn’t like it.

 

            Quietly, she whispered, “People made fun of you, didn’t they?”

 

            That struck a nerve in Ben. His particularly horrid childhood was not something he liked to relive often. His jaw twitched as the muscles contracted and his mouth became a hard line. His dark eyes grew darker and he felt his fingernails digging into his knees.

 

            “Speak to me like I’m your superior, not like I’m your friend,” Ben said harshly. “Speak to me like you _should_.”

 

            Rey shook her head slowly, her mouth opening and closing as it fumbled for words. “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep…”

 

            Ben gathered the remains of his lunch, throwing it all back into his paper bag.

 

            “Ben, please,” Rey pleaded. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was only curious about you…”

 

            Ben shot her a glare through cold eyes. “Well, the next time you’re curious, you’ll be fired.”

 

            He stalked off, throwing his lunch in the garbage with force and leaving Rey behind, feeling confused and upset at his reaction. Most of all, she was dreading having to walk back into that office once she was done lunch. The worst part about working with someone you hate is the same thing that can be the worst about working with someone you love: you have to see them all day long.


	6. Knockout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, there's probably typos and grammar errors in here but meh. I'll come back and fix them later. Enjoy the disaster!

It had been three weeks since the incident. Ben and Rey’s workplace relationship had taken a strictly formal route, only allowing talk related to business and work and nothing else. If they didn’t have a work-related matter to discuss, they simply didn’t talk. It wasn’t that much different from how it had been before, but seeing as the two of them followed their new silent agreement to the letter, the atmosphere had become significantly more rigid.

 

            It was March 17th, and the whole building was gathering downstairs for their annual St. Patrick’s Day party. Everyone said it wasn’t mandatory, but if you didn’t go to a company-sponsored function you’d never hear the end of it so, basically, it was mandatory. Despite the fact that everyone else on his floor had gone down forty minutes ago when work ended, Ben still sat behind his desk nibbling on the lid of a pen and staring at a page that was covered in corrections. It was the last page of a very lengthy, very boring scholarly volume about economic history, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he didn’t get it all done before he went home. With a few last markings he closed the drafted copy, stamped it, and leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief.

 

            He had one more chore out of the way but unfortunately he still had a party to appear at. He would do the same thing he does at every company function: show up, have one drink, and be gone in ten minutes; twenty if someone actually spoke to him. He left his things in his office for the time being, locked the door, and begrudgingly headed for the elevator. Glancing at his watch, he decided enough time had passed for several people to be “tipsy” and for the lightweights to be outrageously drunk or passed out. He groaned. _How we have permission to consume alcohol on company property is beyond me_ _…_

 

            The music was loud and fiddle-heavy and dozens of conversations occurring all at once were working tirelessly to drown it out. They were serving burgers and hot dogs – _How festive_ , Ben thought –, salads upon salads, pizza, cold drinks, warm drinks, vegetables, fruit, chocolate, and more. The food tables seemed to go on forever.

 

            Ben bought himself a beer and began his usual theme of walking around, pretending like he was maybe present there because he wanted to be, not because he had to be. Some people smiled at him, others waved, some turned their faces away as if they hadn’t just been watching him two seconds before he looked up. He didn’t really care anymore. They were all such kiss-asses anyway; they’d be too afraid to cross him lest he say something to the wrong person and get them fired. Except for Rey. Rey didn’t give two shits about Ben’s status being higher than hers. As much as it grated on him, he had to admire her guts to some extent. Perhaps one day he’d get used to her.

 

            She’d certainly gone to new heights for the celebration. She had chosen to wear a green velvet skater dress with a scooped neck, knee-high green and black striped socks, and black flats with rhinestone shamrocks on the toe. She’d even painted her nails a vivid green, Ben had noticed. Somehow all the green made her eyes a softer colour of brown and her freckles seem even more prominent than before. Ben had tried his best not to stare, however. He never risked it in case she happened to look up from her computer and catch him.

 

            It was a sunny, temperate day in New York City. That being the case, they had opened the large garage door that led out onto a cement loading dock that could act as a sort-of patio when needed. There were tons of people outside, laughing and talking and eating and dancing to the Irish music. Ben began to head that way before he was caught by the sound of someone shouting his name. He turned around and saw one of the temps running up to him with a grin on his face. Ben mustered all his strength to not outwardly show his lack of excitement. When the temp caught up to him he began spewing words at a mile a minute.

 

            “Ben! Hi! I’m really glad I caught you; I know you don’t like to stay long at these things. I just have a question for you. Maybe it’s more of a matter of opinion, I don’t know, but I’ve been working on this all day and I’m still not convinced. I work with Sheila, in accounting, you know? And the other day I was looking at the numbers for last quarter and I couldn’t help but notice…”

 

            The boy droned on and on and Ben was hardly listening. He kept walking towards the loading dock, nodding his head every now and again when the boy paused to take a breath, and the boy stuck right at his side. The more he talked about numbers and math and records the more annoyed Ben got until finally, when they were just at the threshold of the door, Ben stopped and interrupted him.

 

            “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” he asked.

 

            The boys’ face fell a little but he tried not to show it. He stumbled over his words. “Oh, um, I’m—I’m Brian. From accounting. Also from the temp agency.”

 

            Ben nodded emphatically. “Riiiight, that’s right,” he said, taking a drink of his beer. “I’m not very good at names, it’s hard to keep track of you all…”

 

            He caught sight of Rey over by the barbecues. She was dancing and smiling, the dimples on her cheeks drawing in his eyes. She had friends all around her, mostly women, laughing and dancing along with her. She didn’t see him, but he watched the scene closely. The temp was still mumbling on at his side but Ben couldn’t even hear him anymore. He watched as one of the janitors joined the group with a couple of his buddies. He had a half-done beer in his hand a cigarette in the other. The way he was stumbling Ben could tell he was already far too drunk. He looked like the kind of guy that would bring a secret flask to work to pre-drink, even if there wasn’t a party going on that day. Ben watched the janitor go straight to Rey and start dancing alongside her. She continued to smile and dance, not really paying him any mind until he started touching her. He put his hands on her waist and tried to pull her closer but she wormed her way out of his grasp. Ben furrowed his brow. He couldn’t hear anything over the music, but he could tell Rey had just lipped him off for touching her. Her smile was gone and she looked angry. The janitor laughed and backed off, retreating to talk to his friends. Ben kept a very close eye on him. He knew it wasn’t over.

 

            He was right. Not five minutes later the man was back, annoying Rey again with his presence. He began to touch her waist again but this time when she tried to pull free he gripped her tighter, causing her to scream. He pulled her front closer to his, clearly trying to force a kiss upon her. Ben’s vision blurred for a second and he could feel his blood boiling in his veins. Without thinking, he threw his beer down on the ground, causing it to splatter all over the temp and the wall, and stomped over to the scene, forcing people to move out of his way quickly. He had murder in his eyes. He made a straight line for the man, pulled his fist back, and without missing a beat delivered a knockout punch between the mans’ eyes. He stumbled backwards, releasing Rey, and dropped to the ground, out cold. Everyone had gone silent. Ben was breathing heavily and shaking with rage. He could feel eyes all over him and he knew it wouldn’t be long before the whispering began. He chanced a look in Rey’s direction. She was standing, apparently fine, but she had lost her colour and was staring at Ben with an almost horrified expression on her face. He unclenched his aching fist and started to head back towards the building.

 

            “Excuse me,” he said.

 

            He was back inside the main area now and eyes were following him. He increased his pace, eyes on the door. He almost didn’t hear the voice screaming at him. “Ben! Ben, wait!” He didn’t turn around to acknowledge it. He just kept going. Through the door, up the stairs. His hand really hurt. His knuckle had split open from where his skin had been dry and was bleeding everywhere but he didn’t pay it any mind. He tried to ignore the burning pain and the sounds of footsteps racing after him on the stairs. “Ben! Stop!”

 

            He grabbed the door handle, leaving a bloody print, and barrelled onto his floor. He was just making it past the reception desk when she screamed at him: “ _Stop_! For Chrissake, Ben, stop!”

 

He stopped.

 

She was out of breath when she caught up to him, but at least she had regained the colour in her face. Her eyes were still wide and alarmed, however. He could barely look at them.

 

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You’re bleeding all over the place.”

 

Ben was taken aback. Shouldn’t it be him asking her if she’s alright? “I’m fine,” he replied. “Are you fine?”

 

“Yes, I’m alright, but—”

 

“I should go clean this up,” Ben interrupted. He began to walk away.

 

“No, let me,” Rey declared. “C’mon, you go to your office and I’ll get the First-Aid kit and meet you there. Go.”

 

He followed orders, unlocking his door with his good hand and stepping inside. He began to pace the minute he entered. _What the hell was I thinking? I haven’t punched somebody in years. What happened to me?_ When Rey entered he stopped moving almost immediately. She led him over to his desk where she opened the kit and took out gauze.

 

“I also filled an icepack with ice from the freezer in the break room,” she said, adding it to the gauze. “That has to hurt.”

 

“It doesn’t,” he lied. Truthfully he’d endured worse, but the stinging sensation was quite annoying.

 

He watched as she cleaned his wound and began to wrap the bandage around it. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to say anything, but he knew that was aiming too high.

 

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I was really scared there for a second. He smelled like alcohol and cigarettes and he got ash all over my dress.” She moved her hair so he could see the long black and grey smudge on the green velvet. “I just…I tried to fight him off but—”

 

“I saw. He wouldn’t take the hint.” Ben interjected. “I’m sorry you had to see that. It didn’t seem like anyone else was going to intervene so I felt like I had to do something. But, I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to…to make a violent display.”

 

“Don’t apologize,” Rey shook her head, finishing up the bandage. “I’m…I’m very thankful you were there.”

 

Ben chewed his lip.

 

“Now the icepack,” She gently placed it over his bandaged knuckles and held it there. He watched her face while she watched the icepack. She was blushing. _Does she know I’m looking at her?_ He wondered.

 

“I can’t believe you knocked him out with just one punch,” Rey said with a light laugh. “You know, I’ve never seen that before.”

 

“You shouldn’t have seen—”

 

“Oh, give it a rest, Ben. I thought it was cool.” She gave him a warm smile.

 

He allowed himself a tiny smirk. “It was a pretty good one.”

 

Rey chuckled softly. She was still holding the icepack to his knuckles. She must’ve lost herself in thought because he could feel the pads of her fingers slowly and softly moving back and forth cross his palm. He didn’t stop her from doing it, she just suddenly caught herself and quit, immediately leaving the icepack to him and rubbing her palms on the skirt of her dress nervously.

 

“Um, are—are you coming back down?” she asked.

 

Ben pressed down on the icepack and shook his head. “No, I should stay here for a bit. I’m sure my phone will be ringing with a nasty call from HR right away.” He started to walk towards his desk.

 

“What?” Rey’s face had fallen. “What do you mean?”

 

He took a seat. “I hit a man unconscious on company property,” he explained. “There are repercussions for that.”

 

“But they can’t fire you,” she said hurriedly. “That wouldn’t be fair! You were only protecting me. That scumbag should be fired for harassing me!”

 

“Unfortunately there’s not much I can do. I punched him, several people witnessed it, and that’s all it takes. They’ll decide what punishment I should take and I’ll take it.”

 

“Ben, no, you can’t,” She walked right around his desk and stood next to him. “I’ll speak on your behalf. I won’t let them fire you for this.”

 

“Thank you, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

 

“Too late, my hopes are up. So what are we going to do about it?” she asked.

 

Ben looked her in the eyes. “Nothing. Do you understand?”

 

She gave him a stubborn glare. “No, I don’t. I’ll do to them for you what you did to that guy for me.”

 

Ben couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’d like to see that.”

 

“Well, you just might.”

 

And when she finally left after deciding to follow Ben’s lead and just go home, she was blushing again.


	7. Anger Management

                Rey stared at her feet as she rode the elevator up. She was very quiet that morning. People were saying hello and good morning to her and she would just smile sadly in return. She felt so unlike herself and she knew why. Ben’s meeting was yesterday afternoon; they were deciding what measures to take following his royal smack-down at the St. Patrick’s Day party. Rey had had no contact with her superior since he left the day before last; she did not know his personal number, only his work phone, which she had dialed twenty times only to hang up before the call could go through. What did she did know was that there was a very good chance he could be fired or transferred or demoted, and she didn’t want to see that. For the rest of her life she would think about the fact that her boss had been fired because he stood up for her. _Her._

               

                The elevator beeped when it reached her floor and she reluctantly stepped out. Everything seemed business as usual. No one looked particularly upset or happy and no one was gossiping. Quickly, she averted everyone’s eyes and rushed to her shared office, where she found the door unlocked. The grey clouds above her head parted slowly and she found herself hesitating to open the door. Excitement made her bite her lip and push it open. Immediately her eyes went to Ben’s desk, where he stood behind it removing his jacket and looking at his messages.

 

                “Oh my god,” she said aloud, “you’re here.”

 

                “Hm?” He looked up, having not heard her come in, and gave her a quizzical look. She had a huge grin on her face and she was just standing in the doorway staring at him. “Oh, hello, Rey.”

 

                “You’re here!” She dropped her bag and ran for him, embracing him in a tight hug that he did not see coming. He went stiff as a board at first but clumsily came around to it and he gave her an awkward pat on the back.

 

                “Yes, I am,” he replied, “it’s Wednesday.”

 

                She laughed. “It’s Wednesday! Yes…oh, I was so worried. I thought they might fire you.”

 

                Ben smiled sheepishly and ran his fingers through his hair. “No, no, I’m not fired. The guy didn’t press any charges, either. But, corporate did decide to make me attend Anger Management for three weeks. So, that’ll be a fun way to spend my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.”

 

                “Anger Management? That seems a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? You’re were just intervening; it’s that other guy that should get help.” Rey scoffed.

 

                “Well, _that other guy_ was the one who got fired. You should feel good about that. I know I do. Well, they had to do something about my behaviour. It is what it is.”

 

                “I’m so sorry,” Rey whispered.

 

                “I know, you already told me. Five times.”

 

                “I feel like I can’t say it enough, though. I mean, you hated me and then just when I thought we were doing better I go and get you in trouble…”

 

                Ben tilted his head to the side, confused. “You thought I hated you?” he asked quietly.

 

                “Oh, yeah. You know, you were always so cold and distant towards me and stuff. You just really didn’t want anything to do with me, I could tell. I think I annoyed you or something. Which I’m also _really_ sorry for—”

 

                Ben frowned, more to himself than to Rey. “I’m like that sometimes…”

 

                “I know, that’s what everyone said.”

 

                Ben swallowed. So she had been vocal about his behaviour. Had he really been that awful? “Right.”

 

                “Look, I’m over it now. I’m just glad we can be friends.” She smiled at him.

 

                Ben watched her for a moment. “Are we friends?” he asked.

 

                Rey blinked at him, clearly taken aback by his question. “Well...I-I just thought that maybe we were, yeah.”

 

                Ben folded his arms across his chest. “I was terrible to you. I made you run around doing my bidding, I treated you like you were dirt, and I no doubt made your days at work an absolute nightmare, am I right?”

 

                “I never said—”

 

                “Am I right?” he interjected.

 

                Rey’s face had fallen significantly. She seemed to fold in on herself a little bit. “It-It wasn’t fun, no…”

 

                “Why would you want to be friends with someone like that? Who’s to say I won’t continuously make you feel terrible about yourself?”

 

                She matched his gaze and her eyes hardened. Coldly, she replied, “You’re right. How silly of me, to think there was actually a human being behind that mask of impassivity and cold-heartedness you wear. How silly of me to think that the man who stood up for me when no one else would had just an ounce of compassion in him.”

 

                Ben sighed. “Rey…”

 

                “No, I get it, Ben. You don’t want anyone to get close enough to you for it to count for anything. You’ve doomed yourself to a life of loneliness and I hope you enjoy it.” She backed away from him. “I need to go for a walk or something.”

 

                She was heading for the door and something in Ben cracked, watching her leave because of him. He knew how strong and independent she was and to see her so upset that she couldn’t even be in the same room as him anymore struck a nerve. He had really messed things up and he desperately wanted to fix them. In two strides he was across the room and caught her by the arm, spinning her back around to face him. They were nearly chest-to-chest and she glared up at him in disgust. His eyes were pleading with her.

 

                “Let go of me!” she demanded, trying to pull her arm out of his grip.

 

                “I never said I hated you,” He shook his head. She stopped moving.

 

                “What?” she snapped.

 

                “I don’t hate you. I-I don’t, I…” He stammered. He tried to force himself to say something, anything. “I maybe wanted to not like you, like I don’t care for anyone else in this office. But you aren’t like everyone else. You wriggled your way under my skin, Rey. That never happens to me and I…I couldn’t ignore it. I can’t ignore you. No matter what I try to do to distract myself, I always come back to you.”

 

                She blinked at him, frozen in place. “I don’t…I don’t understand…” she said quietly.

 

                He let go of her arm and walked over to his bookshelf. He grabbed the leather-bound copy of _Jane Eyre_ and brought it back over to her, dropping it into her hands. She looked at it in confusion.

 

                “You said you liked it,” he explained, “so I read the whole thing.”

 

                She looked up at him, incredulous. “You…read it?”

 

                “Cover to cover,” he nodded. “I just…wanted to know why you liked it so much.”

 

                Rey swallowed, holding the book to her chest. “And what was your conclusion?”

 

                “Well…I think you enjoy a good coming-of-age tale involving a slightly sappy female lead. I think, maybe, you relate a little to Jane in some ways. You’re still figuring yourself out; you don’t feel fulfilled. You’re strong-willed and independent and you want someone that can keep up with that. Or, like most other women I know, you just enjoy the romance between Jane and her troubled lover, Rochester.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure which one.”

 

                Rey nodded slowly. “Did you like it?”

 

                “It…I’ve read worse. Textbooks and the like, I mean.”

 

                She was quiet for a moment, running her finger along the binding of the book. “You read this whole thing for me?”

 

                “You said you liked it, so—”

 

                “But why? What are you trying to say here, Ben?”

 

                “I…” He faltered. He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He choked on his words and swallowed them. “I don’t know.”

 

                Rey sighed. “Alright. Well…I’m still gonna go for a walk, I think…” She picked her bag up from the floor.

 

                “No, wait!” He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her face. He couldn’t decipher her expression. _What the hell am I doing?_ Without thinking it through, he bent down to kiss her. Her lips tasted sweet, like honeydew, but he made sure to kiss them lightly. He was astonished to feel her kissing back for only half a second before she broke away.

 

                “What are you doing?” she asked, so softly he barely heard her.

 

                “I don’t…fuck, I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have done that…” Ben backed away several steps.

 

                Rey stood there, frozen to the spot for a minute. She could still feel his kiss on her lips and taste his cinnamon gum. When she could finally regain her composure, she hiked her bag up on her shoulder and cleared her throat.

 

                “I’m gonna go now.” She said.

 

                He nodded, refusing to meet her eyes. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry.”

 

                Without another word, she left him all alone to deal with his rash mistake. “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit…” he repeated, pacing back and forth and tugging on his hair. What had he done? Corporate had been merciful on him for his last incident. Surely they wouldn’t be so sympathetic this time around. He may as well have resigned when he had the chance. Now he was really screwed.

 

                On a bench outside of the building, Rey was feeling confused. She sat there for a very long time, thinking about what had just happened. She had never seen it coming, first of all. Ben was not the kind of guy to spontaneously kiss a woman, or at least that was what she had thought. As abrupt and shocking as it had been, it had not been a harsh or hard kiss. It had been gentle and sweet, and for some strange reason the second she broke it off she wanted it to resume. But she could tell by his horrified expression that kissing her had not been his go-to response. So then why had he done it? What did it mean? Why couldn’t he just say what he felt?

 

                She looked at the book in her lap and ran her fingers over the gold trim. A smile crept onto her lips. _“You said you liked it…so I read the whole thing.”_ She opened the book and flipped through the pages. Every word, every line, he had read with her in mind. He thought she could relate to Jane on some level. Thinking back to it, Rey wondered if he had seen himself in Rochester. Curiosity took over and she found herself flipping back to page one. She began to read, completely ignoring the fact that she had work to do. This time, as she read it, Mr. Rochester and Jane had different faces; familiar faces. She hadn’t been so engrossed in a book in years.


	8. Promotion

            Ben had known since he had hired Rey on that the day would come where he would have to promote her and she would eventually be out of his control. “Assistant Editor is only a temporary gig,” Hux had told him. “Everyone who gets that job gets promoted after a year or so.” Ben had had reason to believe he would have a year or so left with her. But it had only been nine months, and the day had come already.

            Truthfully, it had been his decision from the start. With guilt weighing heavily on his conscience, he had contacted corporate and recommended her for promotion to a different floor. “She prefers the writing bit of it rather than the editing,” he had said. “I really think she would be a great addition to our team of writers.” He had gotten the go-ahead and had begun paperwork for her, all without saying one word about it to anyone. He didn’t want to tell anyone. Mostly he didn’t want to have to watch Rey get excited about moving all her stuff out of his office onto a different floor for any longer than he had to. It was a big promotion, and one he knew she wanted no matter how many times she said she was very content where she was. The pay was twice as good, and she would get more vacation time. He just hoped she would make the most of it, and that she might have a better boss than him.

            They hadn’t talked about the kiss, and neither of them really wanted to. They had awkwardly danced around the subject until all their conversations seemed dull and planned and it was nearly painful to spend time alone together. Ben had made a habit of calling the young receptionist in every time he got too uncomfortable to do some menial task or something, just so he wouldn’t be alone with Rey for a few minutes. However, the longer he had allowed that to continue the more it seemed that the girl thought he was flirting with her, and he instantly lost interest in using her as a void filler.

            He sat alone in his office, staring at the completed folder of paperwork for Rey’s promotion to the writing department. Now all he had to do was tell her about it. Would she be mad at him for making her wait and forcing her to rush to prepare? Probably. He just hoped the extra pay and vacation time would make her forget about all that.

            He felt strangely numb as he walked to the break room to find her, though. Pausing in the doorway he saw her sitting around a table with three people she obviously considered friends, laughing and talking over their lunches. Ben cleared his throat and their joyful conversation ceased immediately. He looked right at Rey, who seemed shocked to see him.

            “Rey, I need to talk to you,” he said, “in the office.”

            She was frozen for a second before she nodded stiffly and pushed away from the table. “Oh, um, okay, sure.” She turned to her friends. “I’ll be back.”

            Ben stepped aside so she could exit the break room. He could feel their eyes on him and he met her friends’ gazes for a moment before walking after her. Neither of them spoke a word as they walked together. It wasn’t until they were in the office with the door closed and Ben was behind his desk that he finally addressed her.

            “Sorry to disrupt your lunch but I have some news for you,” he said, grabbing the folder and handing it to her. She took it and stared at it in puzzlement. “Open it.”

            He watched as her eyes scanned the first page. It felt like it took an eternity for her to read it. When she was done, she still looked confused.

            “I don’t understand,” she said. “Why are you promoting me already?”

            “I thought you were ready,” he replied. “I thought you’d like it better if you got to write.”

            “But…” She looked upset. She kept switching her focus from him to the folder and back again. “ _I_ don’t think I’m ready…this says I’m supposed to start in two weeks. That’s too soon, I can’t possibly…”

            “Sorry about the short notice,” he said. “You’ve gotten all you can out of this area, really. I think you’ll like it better elsewhere. Your new boss will be Jennifer Rhodes. She’s very skilled and—”

            “You’re getting rid of me,” she interrupted sharply.

            “Excuse me?” Ben asked.

            “You kissed me and you can’t handle that it didn’t go over that well so now you’re just going to get rid of me, like I’m a tradable problem to you.” She slammed the folder back down onto his desk.

            “No, that’s not it at all; I think you’d do great—”

            “Oh, give it a rest,” she snapped. “I’m not an idiot, Ben. So you can stop treating me like one.”

            He swallowed. Why couldn’t she just be happy about it and move on? She could run back to her friends in the break room and gush about her “newest adventure” but instead she was nitpicking his decision and blatantly disrespecting him. In his heart he knew the situation went deeper than that, but he just wanted it to be over. Maybe he did promote her so he wouldn’t have to see her as much; he thought she’d be pleased about that too.

            His gaze hardened and his voice ran icy cold. “I am giving you an advancement opportunity that will not only get you a bigger paycheque but will also allow you to write, a hobby that you enjoy, as you have said numerous times yourself. Most people would jump at the opportunity to make their hobby their profession. Now, be grateful, go tell everybody the good news, and take your paperwork up to your new boss.”

            She glared at him stubbornly for a minute, racking her brain for another insult. The second she opened her mouth to speak, however, Ben was at the ready.

            “For your sake and mine, do not argue with me on this anymore.” He warned.

            “Unbelievable,” she muttered as she picked up the folder. “You are _unbelievable_.”

            “I’ve been called worse,” he retorted flatly.

            When she got to the door she turned around to address him one last time. “Thank you for the opportunity, _Mr. Solo_.” She slammed his door shut behind her.

            Ben glared at the spot where she had been standing. _What a petty girl,_ he thought.

            Ben Solo was in an especially foul mood after that.


	9. Every Inch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the nature of this chapter I had to up the rating of this story to mature, so you can expect some nsfw material here. If that makes you uncomfortable I really do apologize, haha. If it makes you feel any better, it's not the best smut you'll ever read because I seriously suck at writing this stuff (because it makes me, the author, uncomfortable-strange how that works). Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please leave me comments!

            He stood by his hotel room window, watching the people and cars crawl on the ground 32 floors down like small, insignificant bugs. Part of him wanted to squish them beneath his foot, part of him wanted to be with them. He wanted to be insignificant; he wanted to be a bug. If he was a bug, he wouldn’t be under so much stress and, most importantly, he wouldn’t have to be at this damn company-sponsored Christmas party. The corporate bastards had rented out an entire hotel in downtown Manhattan and requested that all their game pieces show up for a game. Ben frowned, casting an even darker shadow onto his pale, sallow face. He was in an especially sour mood.

 

            Months had passed since he had promoted Rey, and many things had changed yet nothing had changed at all. He spent his days at work alone in his office, rarely leaving it for anything but meetings and bathroom breaks. Corporate had tried to force another intern upon him but he had refused, arguing that he had tried the intern thing and he didn’t like it. He had been so miserable that he had stopped going on evening walks and runs and he had gotten into a nasty fight with Hux. He hadn’t spoken to the man for a month. Standing in his hotel room just then, he couldn’t recall what they had even fought about.

 

            Rey, on the other hand, had been doing very well in her new department. She was certainly flourishing, just as Ben knew she would. She had already written and published three articles, all of which Ben had read and saved. They were very impressive; relatable, and yet still deeply passionate and intelligent. He had heard rumours that she was working on her own book. Every time he heard even the slightest bit of news on her achievements he couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit of pride. But he hadn’t seen her since she’d moved floors. She never came down and he never went up. They even managed to avoid each other in the parking lots. He was starting to forget certain details about her; like exactly how her eyes lit up when she really smiled, or which shoulder it was that she always threw her hair over. He was angry that such silly things had ever seemed so important to him. In the last month he had been doing a fairly good job at keeping her out of his head. For once his giant workload had acted as a blessing, providing a healthy distraction.

 

            He flipped his suitcase open atop his bed and pulled out the deep red button-up he’d intended to wear to the party. Due to his negligent packing, it had gotten terribly wrinkled. He had no iron in his room, but he knew there had to be one somewhere. He was less than thrilled about having to go on such a hunt. He grabbed his hotel key, shoved it in his pants pocket, and opened his door with a grumble.

 

            “…coffee in the morning? Wow, this place is great!”

 

            Ben stopped in his doorway, immediately recognizing the voice as Rey’s. As if his day wasn’t bad enough, he just had to be put in the room right across the hallway from hers. She was facing her own room so as quietly as he possibly could, he closed his door and tried to sneak away before she turned around and noticed him. Unfortunately, the door did not close quietly, and Rey turned her head slightly to the left. The open-mouthed, dimpled smile that had been on her face disappeared almost instantly.

 

            “Ben,” she grumbled formally in what was meant to be a greeting but which sounded more like a curse.

 

            “Rey,” He gave her a curt nod and tried to walk away.

 

            “That’s it? No snarky comment?” Rey called after him.

 

            Again, he stopped. His brow furrowed in annoyance and he lazily slumped back towards her.

 

“Were you looking for one?” he asked, appraising her with cold eyes.

 

Rey swallowed. “No,” she answered in her most defiant voice. “I was expecting one.”

 

“Sorry to disappoint,” Ben mumbled. “As much as I’d love to stand here and bicker with you, I’ve got a—”

 

“Oh, trust me, I have better things I could be doing right now,” she interrupted. He could tell she was slightly flustered.

 

He stepped back and motioned to the open hallway with one arm. “Then please, by all means go and do them.” He said coolly.

 

She huffed at him, “Fine.” She and her friend stalked off, mumbling to each other in unpleasant tones.

 

Ben groaned, running his fingers through his hair. _I know I’ve done some terrible things in my lifetime,_ he thought, _but my god, what did I do to deserve this?_ Trying to wipe the scene from his mind, he carried on in his search for an iron.

 

***

            As per usual at company events, Ben found himself sitting alone in the back of the ballroom, drinking bourbon and wondering how long he had to stay before it was acceptable to go back up to his room. The music was loud and far too electronic for his taste, plus the multi-coloured strobe lights were tacky and slightly disorienting. Thus, he had chosen to face the floor-to-ceiling windows on the back wall and examine the New York skyline instead. Absentmindedly, he swirled his drink in its glass. As usual, he was thankful for hard alcohol and highballs. Bourbon and scotch had saved the day by being the only things keeping him from pulling his hair out.

 

            The sound of a chair being pulled out next to him jolted him back to reality and he turned his head to find an inebriated Rey bouncing in her seat, yet managing to keep her eyes firmly focused on him.

 

            “’Lo, boss man,” she slurred, giving him a weak military salute.

 

            “I’m not your boss anymore, remember? I sucked at it.” Ben drawled, giving her a funny look.

 

            “Oh, come on,” Rey placed her hand on his atop the table. “Don’t pretend like you and I didn’t…you know...” She smirked suggestively.

 

            Ben narrowed his eyes and shook his head, “Didn’t what?”

 

            “Work together,” She snorted and giggled. “Duh!”

 

            Ben’s eyes slipped to their hands and he raised his eyebrows. They had never touched before, save for that initial handshake and the occasional finger fumbling when passing documents back and forth. He never counted those. He looked back at her with lidded, unimpressed eyes. “You’re drunk,” he said bluntly.

 

            Rey scoffed at him and retracted her hand to brush back a strand of hair that kept falling into her eyes. “So are you,” she said.

 

            “Well, I wouldn’t still be here if I wasn’t,” He threw back the rest of his bourbon in one go.

 

            The conversation died out momentarily and Rey found herself staring blankly at the tabletop, watching it seemingly swim before her. Ben directed his attention at the dance floor, where girls were dancing with guys that just wanted to take them back to their rooms for the night. The lights by the DJ booth were reflected in his dark eyes and Rey looked up to notice this. She’d never taken the time to really appreciate how unique of a man he was. She had never met someone that looked anything like him before. He had a slightly crooked nose and maybe his ears were a bit bigger than the next guy’s, but it all made him very intriguing to look at. His freckles were like constellations on his face and he had laugh lines, which meant that he wasn’t always wearing a frown. Her eyes followed the angled structure of his jawline and face and she felt a heavy sadness in her gut. Why did he always make her feel sad without even trying to?

 

            “We were alright though, weren’t we?” she asked, momentarily forgetting to raise her voice so he could hear her over the loud music. He turned his face towards her and she watched the purples and pinks dance in his eyes like some sort of ethereal light show. “I mean, we had some good times, right?”

 

            Ben raised his eyebrows slightly and smirked, clearly stifling a laugh and barely succeeding. “Uh, sure, but I’ve had better.”

 

            “Aw, come on, can’t we talk about it?” Rey asked, resting her elbows on the table. “Oh, oh! Remember that one time when—”

 

            “Hang on one second,” Ben interrupted. He waved the waiter over to their table. “I’m going to need two more bourbon on the rocks here.”

 

            “Oh, I don’t like bourbon,” Rey interjected.

 

            “They’re not for you,” Ben shot back.

 

            Rey groaned loudly, rolling her eyes. “You’re so sarcastic; it makes you negative! Y’know, maybe the reason you were so cold to me wasn’t because I annoyed you but because you just didn’t give me a chance!”

 

            Ben’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Never gave you a chance? I gave you a thousand chances; everyday you got to continue showing up to work I was giving you a chance, technically.” He began to tap his foot and shake his leg, eagerly waiting for the waiter to come back.

 

            “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Rey spat. “I was good. I was _damn good_ at my job and you knew it.”

 

            “Yeah, of course I knew it. That’s also how I knew you’d be good at your new job, too. And how is that working out for you again? Last I heard it was going great. You’re welcome.”

 

            Rey threw her hands in the air. “See? That’s what I mean! Cynical Mr. Solo strikes again—”

 

            “Hey. I told you not to call me that.” Ben warned in a low voice just as his bourbon arrived.

 

            “Oh yeah, you did. Why’s that, Ben? See, most people in the office—and I agreed, honestly—are pretty sure you’ve got some serious daddy issues. Wanna talk about it? ’Cause I can talk about it.”

 

            Ben’s face darkened and if he hadn’t been seven drinks in he might have considered fighting with her. But instead he stood up abruptly, put his leather jacket on, and pulled a cigarette pack from its pocket. Without saying a word, he took a smoke in his mouth, fixed his jacket, and started walking away. Rey immediately called out to him.

 

            “Where are you going?” she demanded.

 

            He stopped, walked back to her, and took the cigarette between his fingers so he could speak. “I’m gonna go find Bigfoot, what does it look like?” he snapped. His voice had a sharp edge to it, discernable even over the thumping music.

 

            “But I’m not done talking to you yet!”

 

            “Well then by all means—” Ben reached past her to grab his glass, his nose nearly brushing hers. Once again she found herself entranced by the dancing lights in his eyes. “—come along.” He slid the drink off the table and sauntered towards the exit.

 

            Rey scampered after him, struggling to keep up. It was harder than she had thought considering that one of his steps was two of hers and she was a bit tipsy. She hadn’t had to keep up with him in quite a while.

 

            “Care to slow down? You’re making me nauseous.” Rey asked, panting.

 

            “Huh, haven’t heard that one before,” Ben responded grumpily. “If you can’t keep up, stay behind.”

 

            She grumbled something he didn’t quite catch, but he knew he heard at least one expletive. She sped up, though.

 

            Ben had the cigarette lit before they even got outside. Once the chilled winter air hit their skin he exhaled the smoke in a large, carcinogenic cloud. Rey watched it get swept up in the breeze.

 

            “I didn’t know you smoke,” she said, nearly forgetting to adjust her voice volume now that they were no longer in the ballroom.

 

            “You don’t know very much about me at all,” Ben responded, taking another drag, “except that I’m an asshole.”

 

            “You’re right, on both accounts,” Rey nodded. “But why don’t you let me know you a little better? Tell me stuff.”

 

            “No fucking way,” Ben scoffed, putting away his entire drink and setting the empty glass on a railing.

 

            “Why not?”

 

            He side-eyed her. “I don’t know you. And I’m certain you don’t care.”

 

            “I do so,” Rey snapped. “Let’s fix that then, shall we? My name is Rey, I grew up in foster care in London; I didn’t have a permanent home until I was fourteen years old—”

 

            “Oh, c’mon,” Ben interrupted. “I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want to know.”

 

            Rey stubbornly continued. “I moved to Boston and got my schooling there until college—”

 

            “And you’re going to keep going, excellent,”

 

            “I have great friends and family, although sometimes I get homesick and miss my parents a lot—”

           

            “Stop.”

 

            “I really love my job and my apartment and I’m proud of my accomplishments.”

 

            “Rey, I’m serious…”

 

            “When people don’t like me it hurts but I try not to think about it too much. Every time it hurts I think I’m too full of myself or something; I should be able to take constructive criticism and little bit of hate, right? Except—”

 

            “God, enough already! You’re making this so much worse than it needs to be.”

 

            “ _Except_ for this one time, when nothing I did seemed to fix the problem and I became obsessed with finding the solution.”

 

            “I swear…”

 

            “I did everything to try and impress this guy but nothing worked. He didn’t even seem to notice me.”

 

            “What are you doing…?”

 

            “I obsessed over it so much that I couldn’t get you out of my head,” Rey spoke with more strength in her voice than she felt in her entire body. “I kept trying to think of what I did to make you mad but I couldn’t figure it out. It drove me crazy. I have never wanted someone to like me so badly and I don’t even know why it had to be you.”

 

            She stopped. He was looking at her with a blank, stunned expression on his face. She couldn’t quite read it.

 

            “I’m also very drunk right now and hoping I won’t remember this in the morning.” She finished.

 

            Ben shook his head, temporarily at a loss for words. “Why should my approval mean that much to you?”

 

            “Well—”

 

            “I mean, I am _no one_. I hardly have a life outside of work. I repel people and tell myself it’s because I don’t like them, but really it’s just because I don’t want them to like me. I tried it on you, but you are the most persistent little _gash_ I’ve ever met in my life. You kept coming back again and again and again…I have nothing to give you. My opinions are worth jack shit; you need to realize I’m not who you should be worried about.” He flicked his cigarette a little too violently.

 

            “But I am!” Rey cried. Tears stung the corners of her eyes but she held them back. She was not that little girl anymore. She was not going to cry. “You’re so intimidating and…scary. But mostly you unnerved me because the minute I saw you and started talking to you, I felt some sort of weird connection to you. I could tell you have been through so much. So have I. I don’t know, I just…I liked being close to you. It was comforting somehow. But you were so hot and cold with me that it made my head spin.”

 

            Ben stared at her for a moment, his eyes darkened by the night time shadows. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards for just a brief moment before he spoke. Rey’s heart was pounding against her ribcage in apprehension.

 

            “Am I intimidating and scary right now?” he asked, his deep voice hushed.

 

            Rey swallowed. “N—well, not at this particular moment, I suppose…but—”

 

            “You felt a connection to me,” Ben interrupted. He dropped his cigarette, basically ignorant of its existence at that point. It was practically done anyhow.

 

            “What?” Rey squinted. Her voice came out softer than she’d expected.

 

            “Just then, when you were ranting,” Ben took a step closer. “You said you felt like you had a weird connection with me.”

 

            “Well, yes, I, uh, guess I said that,” she admitted. She couldn’t figure out where he was going with it.

 

            “What connection do you think we have, exactly?”

 

            Rey sputtered for a minute, afraid of what to say. His eyes made her feel very small and insignificant and it made her start squirming just slightly. “I—well we, um, have…uh, we’re both educated people, um, well-read people…”

 

            “Bullshit,” Ben scoffed. “You’re a terrible liar. I know when you’re lying.” He shook a finger at her.

 

            “What? No you don’t.” Rey said defensively.

 

            “Oh, yes I do. You start looking frantically at anything but the person you’re lying to. You constantly move your hands, like you’re doing right now. And you sputter and make these dumb faces, like you can’t decide what emotion to portray, and your dimples stick out even more.”

 

            Rey gazed at him curiously. “You noticed all of that?”

 

            Ben’s smugness faltered. “At one time I did see you every day at work, remember?”

 

            “I wouldn’t say that, exactly. Most of the time I’d come into your office and you’d be ten feet deep in stacks of paper and you’d hardly throw me a second glance.”

 

            “Well…I remember it differently.” Ben mumbled.

 

            “If anything, I’m the one who should be naming off your quirks. Like how your brow creases right in the middle when you’re deep in concentration,”

 

            “We don’t have to get into this, we really don’t,” Ben urged.

 

            “Or how about your weird tendency to start reading a book but never finish it?”

 

            “Okay, first of all, I only do that with mystery novels. I don’t want the mystery to end because then it’s not interesting anymore.”

 

            “You’d never let me go out to get coffee without giving me money from your own pocket first, because you felt bad about it otherwise, even though you’d never admit that.”

 

            “Stop it,”

 

            “You compulsively run your fingers through your hair when you’re nervous or stressed out.”

 

            “Enough, I said.”

 

            “You keep a bag of Werther’s candies in your bottom drawer like a grandpa,”

 

            “Shut up.”

 

            “You like the original ones the best, but you’re also partial to the soft caramels—”

 

            “Shut up!”

 

            “And I always catch you looking at my mouth, but I let you think that I don’t notice.”

 

            Ben cursed under his breath before impulsively lunging forward, taking her stupid, beautiful little face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers. She stopped speaking. She reciprocated and gently gripped his upper arms with her shaking hands. The kiss wasn’t a long one by any means, yet it was just long enough to stimulate a change in atmosphere.

 

            “I’m sorry,” Ben said in a mechanical voice. “I need to stop doing that.”

 

            Rey stared at him in silence for what felt like a lifetime to Ben. He didn’t loathe her; he hadn’t hated her then and he still didn’t hate her now, after all that happened. But now that he’d affirmed her hopes, she wanted more. She wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was the alcohol. At that point, it really didn’t matter to her.

 

            “I don’t care,” Rey whispered, letting her fingers find their way to the hair at the base of his skull. She kissed him again, feeling equal parts small and unstoppable in his arms. Her head felt fuzzy, in a better way than it had all night.

 

            To her amazement, she heard him moan very softly against her lips before he thrust her toward the outside wall of the hotel, trying to get as close as he could to her but it wasn’t enough. She tasted like vodka and cherry Chap Stick and it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted in his life. He felt like he had been dead for a year and through some miracle had been revived. His heart pounded hard in his chest and he found himself running out of breath as his lungs struggled to keep up with his system in overdrive.

 

            His lips explored her jawline, neck, and collarbone, leaving feverish kisses and licks in their wake. Her fingernails were digging into the back of his neck and his chest. He lifted her up so she could straddle his hips and she gasped pleasurably. She had never guessed he had such a side to him. When she had thought about it before during those lonely nights, she had never thought it would be so intense—and they had hardly even done anything yet.

 

            “Upstairs,” she murmured, tugging on his hair to detach him from her. His eyes were hooded and nearly black; the way he was looking at her made something stir within her. He was melting for her; completely vulnerable.

 

            He wasted no time, picking her up into his arms like she weighed absolutely nothing, and carrying her to the elevator like that. She was laughing and it was the most beautiful music he had ever heard. When they got to their floor he put her down and she followed right behind him, sneaking her hand into his back pocket to grab his room key. When he got to his door he reached for his pocket and his fingers found no plastic card. He was in a moment of disbelief when he watched her arm snake around from behind him and unlock his door. When he turned around to face her, they were both grinning.

 

            She shoved him into the room and, startled, he stumbled a little. She followed him in with that same triumphant smile on her face and locked the door.

 

            “You don’t have any roommates, do you?” she asked, stalking him as he retreated toward the king size bed.

 

            He shook his head, “Not a one.”

 

            “Perfect.”

 

            He brought her into his arms and kissed her fervently. Her fingers ran up his chest to his shoulders, pushing his jacket off. Their fingers barely stumbled as they worked at buttons and zippers and clasps, and then they were skin on skin. He wanted to kiss every inch of her; he had wanted to for months but he had never admitted it to himself. More than that, though, he wanted to make her scream and writhe with nothing but pleasure and he wanted to watch her while he did it. He wanted to see her pretty mouth saying his name and begging for more. He wanted to _please_ her, in any way she wanted him to.

 

            Rey could feel him against her thigh and she moaned, leaning toward the bed and trying to pull him with her but he resisted, breaking off their kiss. She gave him an annoyed, puzzled look as he walked away from her to the desk.

 

            “What are you doing?” she asked, exasperated.

 

            Violins and pianos filled the room suddenly, playing a beautifully dark musical number that Rey had never heard before.

 

            “I’m preparing,” he responded, returning to her. “If you’re not screaming, I’m not doing my job right, am I?”

 

            Her cheeks burned as heated blood rushed to her face. She shook her head. “No, that’s right.”

 

            “I know.” He laid her down on the bed and rested himself between her thighs, looming over her. The pad of his thumb traced her lower lip and pulled it gently. “You will scream for me, won’t you?”

 

            “I could,” She nodded, “if you can make me.”

 

            He grinned at her and it gave her butterflies, like when she was in middle school and she would lock eyes for only a second with her crush, Jimmy Aitken, but those had been nothing compared to what she felt when Ben looked at her like that. She couldn’t explain it, but just then she didn’t really care to.

 

            He left a trail of kisses and gentle bites along her body. He only wanted to please her, so he carefully monitored her reactions to different sensations in different places. He learned quickly that she was fond of inner thigh kisses, and so he gave her lots of them. Starting from her left knee up to the base of her hipbone, pausing to tease, then skipping across to her right thigh and down to her knee. He saw she was gripping the bed sheet, but he wanted her to be gripping him. So he began a trail that started at her navel and went down, down, down, until he could taste her. She tasted like strawberries and cream and felt lovely and warm on his tongue.

 

Almost instantly he felt her fingers tangle themselves in his hair and she moaned, low and wanting. His tongue was making her feel things she hadn’t felt before. It was like he knew what she liked and where she liked it and he didn’t stray from those guidelines. She arched her back and gasped, panting loudly as he held her in a state of euphoric bliss. He knew he had her. He ran his fingers over her, delighting in the noise she made, and slipped his middle finger inside her. She felt so hot and wet that he faltered, moaning against her. But he wanted her to scream, so he continued to massage her and care for her, treating her how he had wanted to treat her for so long. He gradually built up speed as he added his ring finger to the mix, tending to her clit with the tip of his tongue. She moaned loudly, yanking on the ends of his hair. He could feel her tense up and he got faster, urging her on.

 

“Oh, god, please… _please_ ,” She pleaded. She gave a choked scream, shaking through her orgasm.

 

He held her tight as he lapped her up, shaking a little himself. _She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,_ he thought.

 

He arose from between her legs, wiping his mouth on his arm. He needed her closer, he couldn’t wait any longer. Without a word he leaned over her to his bedside table and retrieved a condom, hastily ripping it open with his teeth. She giggled.

 

“You came prepared for just such an occasion, huh?” she asked, pointing to the condom.

 

He laughed. “I would think you’d be relieved.”

 

“Oh I am,” she admitted, stealing it from him. “You have no idea how relieved I am.”

 

She curled around him until he was in a position where she could straddle him again. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her take control. She rolled the condom over his erection, which she took her time admiring. When she was satisfied, she lifted herself over top of him and rested her arms on his shoulders. He was giving her that look again, the one that she could feel resonating deep within her. He gently took her chin between his fingers and tilted it up a little.

 

“Am I intimidating and scary right now?” he asked again in a voice like honey.

 

Rey shook her head and answered as she guided him inside her, “Not one bit.”

 

Never in Ben’s life had he allowed himself to become so vulnerable around another person. She had complete control of him as she rode him first with slow, teasing pulses, up and down again and again, gaining speed and slowing right back down again. He moaned her name into her throat, saying it again and again like a desperate prayer, calling out to her, _needing her_. “Rey…Rey…” Just the sound of his pleading voice, cracking and rumbling against her skin, made her dig her fingernails into his back. He growled her name into her collarbone before he gripped her to his front and almost effortlessly stood up off the bed. For the second time that night she felt a cool wall against her back and the sensation made her gasp. She hadn’t realized how hot her skin was. He was kissing her skin again, not caring one bit that she was just as sweaty as he was. He kissed her neck and chest and shoulders, thrusting himself as deep as he could inside of her. Once. Twice. Again and again and again.

 

“Oh, g- _god_ ,” she whispered, fumbling over the words. Before she knew it she was doing exactly what he had asked of her and screaming between moans, gripping his hair and clawing at his shoulders so hard that welts were appearing in her wake. He pressed his forehead against hers and shut his eyes tight, panting along with her and going faster the harder she gripped him. Ben had to brace himself with one hand on the wall as they climaxed. He leaned into her, his moans muffled by her hair. She was still making soft noises into his chest a minute later as they stood there, frozen in time, each trying to catch their breath again. He pulled out after a short breather but did not leave her side. Gently, he brushed away some of her hair that had stuck to her forehead. She was blushing all over.

 

“You really are very good at your job,” he purred. “Best intern I’ve ever had.”

 

She giggled breathlessly and kissed him once more. He gave her an additional peck on her forehead.

 

“Please say you’ll stay,” he pleaded softly into her hair. His voice sounded so small and quiet; like it wasn’t even him speaking. “I want you here…at least for a little while longer.”

 

She smiled and brushed his hair back with her fingers. “Of course I’ll stay with you. Come on, let’s get some water to drink and take a bath. Does that sound good?”

 

He had the most content, blissed-out expression on his face. “That sounds great. Let me order a bottle of champagne.”

 

She chuckled. “Champagne? What, do you have rose petals in the Jacuzzi tub, too?”

 

“Unfortunately for you, no. But I never did get to congratulate you on your successful promotion. Cheap hotel champagne will have to do.”

 

She just shook her head and walked to the bathroom with the biggest grin on her face.


	10. Morning After

                A sharp knocking woke Ben from his dead sleep at around seven-thirty in the morning. He blinked and squinted at his brightly-lit room—he had forgotten to close the blinds—and tried to figure out where the noise was coming from. It didn’t take him long to put the pieces together. He started to sit up a little when a gentle sigh at his side made him stop. Rey was still sound asleep, her head resting on his shoulder as he held her. As gently as he could, he switched himself out for his pillow. He hardly breathed until he was off of the bed and she was snuggling up to his pillow instead. Hastily, he threw a robe on and tended to his unannounced guest.

 

                He didn’t recognize the girl on the other side of his door. She was nearly two feet shorter than him with long blonde hair and tanned skin. She had dark bags under her eyes and she looked exhausted.

 

                Still waking up, Ben mumbled groggily, “I don’t need housekeeping right now.”

 

                The girl glared at him. “Have you seen Rey in the last seven hours?”

 

                That woke him up. “Rey?” he asked innocently.

 

                “Yes, Rey. She worked with you before she moved up to the writing department? She’s my co-worker there.”

 

                “Oh, _that_ Rey,” He nodded. “No, I haven’t seen her. Why do you ask? And why do you ask so early?”

 

                “Well we were supposed to be rooming together but I lost track of her last night and I haven’t heard or seen her since. Someone said they saw her at the party wandering over to talk to you for some reason.” She grumbled the last bit pointedly.

 

                Ben raised his eyebrows. “Well. I can assure you she’s no longer with me. She said something about getting food and then she toddled off—”

 

                He recoiled as the door seemed to open wider of its own free will. But he looked down to see a sleepy Rey at his side, rubbing her eye with her fist, dressed in his button-down from the night before. He gave her an astonished stare, trying to yell at her with his eyes. _What are you doing?!_

“What’s goin’ on…?” she asked.

 

                The girl was staring, slack-jawed and dumbfounded, at the sight before her. The silence that followed seemed to go on for hours, but it was only mere seconds before Rey spoke, prompted by a sharp nudge in the back by Ben’s elbow.

 

                “Huh—oh!” Her eyes widened and she sputtered for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse but finding herself cornered with no defense. “Holly! I, um—what are you doing here?” She folded her arms tightly across her chest, trying to hide the evidence and failing.

 

                “Looking for you,” Holly whispered back.

 

                “Oh, uh…okay, why don’t you go to our room? I’ll meet you there in just a few minutes, I promise.”

 

                Holly nodded stiffly and retreated. “Okay,” she muttered.

 

                Rey instantly shut Ben’s door and walked back into the room, running fingers through her hair.

 

                Ben followed, feeling rather unperturbed by the whole incident. “I almost had her,” he said. “She believed me until you came to the door and blew our cover to pieces.”

 

                “Oh, shove it,” Rey grumbled, hastily removing his shirt and throwing a robe on, too flustered to look for her own clothes.

 

                “I’m sorry,” Ben said, walking over to her. “What are you going to do?”

 

                Rey shook her head, taking a moment to lean against the window. She was chewing on her thumbnail. “I don’t know. What do I tell her? Maybe I can convince her this is all just a dream…she fell asleep in the room while she was looking for me…”

 

                “Kinda sounds like a stretch to me,” Ben admitted, gently saving her nail from her nervous teeth. “You’ll tell her that we were both very drunk, that we both regret it or it will never happen again—something like that. You can tell her I fell asleep on you immediately afterwards if you’d like. Just don’t tell her I was a terrible fuck; word like that gets out and I’m doomed here for at least ten years.” He gave her a small smile.

 

                Rey’s expression softened. “But you didn’t fall asleep on me. You stayed awake and cuddled me…which I did not expect, by the way. The cuddling, I mean.”

 

                “What’s that old saying? ‘I have lots of tricks up my sleeve’? Yeah, something along those lines.” He winked.

 

                She ran her teeth along her lower lip. “I hope it’s not bad that I’m interested in seeing those tricks.”

 

                Ben blinked. “It’s not bad, it’s just a question of whether you want to keep…I don’t know what the term for it is these days. It used to be foolin’ around, then it was hanging out, and now…who knows?”

 

                “I think it’s ‘Netflix and chill’, or something ridiculous like that,” Rey rolled her eyes.

 

                Ben squinted. “That is the dumbest thing I have heard in the last twenty-four hours.”

 

                Rey laughed. “Right?”

 

                “This is very forward, so don’t be alarmed,” Ben said, carefully running his fingers through her hair. “Will you come back? After all of your ‘girl talk’ is over?”

 

                Rey raised her eyebrows. “You want to see me?” she asked. “The last time you wanted to see me it didn’t go so well.”

 

                Ben gazed at her with those intense eyes of his. She could almost feel him staring right into her soul. “I promise this time it will go completely different,” He grazed her jaw with his lips, leaving a couple slow pecks on her cheek. “I’ll make you so happy this time. I’ll make you feel things you’ve never felt before.”

 

                Rey was beginning to melt in his arms. Her skin felt flushed and hot, and his deep, gravelly morning voice in her ear was doing funny things to her body. Every kiss and touch felt electrified. She never wanted him to stop what he was doing. She felt as though she was weightless, floating on a cloud somewhere beautiful. She hardly stopped to wonder how he was doing that to her with only his voice and touch. She didn’t want to question it; she didn’t need to.

 

                His lips were exploring her throat and the curvature of her jaw. He had one hand on her upper back that she graciously leaned into, while his other hand was running slow, deliberate laps around her upper thigh and hipbone. “I would make you feel so good, so worshipped. And I would fuck you like a queen, if you wanted me to.”

 

                She could feel his tempting words making her wet and she was reminded that she had nothing on underneath her closed robe. She was certain he was highly aware of that, the way his hand was travelling closer and closer to the apex of her thighs.

 

                “Or I could fuck you hard, if you wanted. Hard and fast, again and again and I’d watch you come every single time. You’re so fucking beautiful when you come…”

 

His fingers moved past the slit in her robe and she gasped loudly as she felt them against her skin, like she’d been shocked. She jumped away from him, finally realizing how winded she felt from panting in anticipation. She was blushing and every nerve in her body was screaming at her for pulling away. She wanted to go back like it never happened so badly, but she knew she couldn’t. She had something to do first.

 

“I-I’m sorry, I really should go talk to her,” she said, gesturing to the door. “Damn it…sorry.” She walked away to find her shoes. She should have at least one article of her own clothing on.

 

Ben followed her, flopping down on the bed. “Or I’m not opposed to just talking…it’s not as fun but it works too.”

 

Rey sputtered out a weak laugh. “No, I’d like to continue that other conversation we were just having when I get back here. So get some sleep now, while you still can.” She winked at him and walked out.

 

When she got to her room, Holly was sitting on the end of her bed, staring at the wall with a blank expression on her face. Cautiously, Rey approached her.

 

“Holly?” she asked.

 

Holly was quiet for a little while longer. Rey didn’t feel comfortable enough to sit down next to her just yet, so she stood awkwardly a couple feet away.

 

“I just gotta know…what the fuck?” Holly sighed, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “What happened? Did you seriously do what I think you did?”

 

Nervously, Rey chewed her lip and collected her thoughts. “Listen, there was a lot of alcohol flowing last night—”

 

“Oh, no-no,” Holly shook her head. “No excuses. Tell me honestly if you had sex with that man or not, so I can judge you accordingly.”

 

Rey furrowed her eyebrows. “Why would you judge me if I had sex with him?”

 

Holly gaped at her friend. “Are you serious? There’s only a list of reasons. You wanna hear them? Alright, well, first of all he’s an asshole. He was never anything but mean to you, remember? Do you recall when you first moved up to the writing floor all you wanted to do was bad-mouth him?”

 

She frowned. It was true, she had spent her first week there tearing him apart to anyone who would listen. But she had done that because for some twisted reason it had helped to ease the pain she felt for a little while. She had been betrayed, or so it seemed to her.

 

“You said yourself that he was cocky, annoying, cruel, and a freakish loner who pushed everyone away,” Holly recited. “C’mon Rey. You throw back a few drinks and you just let yourself forget all he did to you? You let him touch you like that, despite how miserable he made you? Think of the message that sends him; letting him know it’s okay to push you around because you’ll let him sleep with you eventually. And what does it say about you?”

 

Rey was quiet for a moment. Mostly she was trying to check the rage that was bubbling up inside of her, so she would be able to have a civil discussion rather than a pointless argument. She breathed deep and slow.

 

“What I said about him…it made him sound worse than he actually is,” Rey explained slowly. “I was really mad at him when he promoted me without any sort of warning at all, just when I thought we were on good terms in the situation we were in. So, naturally, I let myself vent that anger in the form of exaggerated verbal rage spew. But he’s not a monster. He’s just…guarded. Very guarded, and very private. For some reason I can’t fully explain, he sort of let me in. But it was tough on him to do that. So sometimes he’d push me away, that’s all.”

 

Holly scoffed. “Still kind of sounds like he’s just fucking around with you.”

 

“But he’s not, at least not in that cruel, intentional way.” Rey sighed. “I know what I did kind of makes me look like a hypocrite and a liar, but I had full control over what I was doing. We both made a conscious decision and it happened so…here we are.”

 

Holly shook her head but it looked like the fight had gone out of her. “Whatever, man. You do you. But don’t let him fuck you around. Intentionally or not, he needs to cut that shit out.” She scooted back on the bed and got under the covers, yawning. “Shut the light off. I was out looking for someone all night and I’m beat.”

 

Rey rolled her eyes but handled the light switch, sneaking back out of the room as she went. She opened Ben’s unlocked door and entered. The blinds were still open, along with a window, but Ben was snoring softly on his bed, completely unaware. Rey smiled sleepily.

 

“That actually looks like a good idea,” she said, carefully crawling under the blankets beside him.

 

He started awake with a sharp intake of air and raised his head off of the pillow, blinking rapidly. “Hey,” he mumbled, opening his arms for her.

 

“Hi.” She cozied up to his chest. Her skin sighed happily as his body heat warmed her instantly.

 

She felt him plant a gentle kiss on her temple. She remembers smiling, and nothing after that.


	11. Whispers

“It’s just weird. I mean, really, who in their right minds puts the milk in before the cereal? Your cereal to milk ratio would be completely off every time.”

 

            Ben smirked at Rey as she sat on the corner of his desk, playing with a snow globe he’d gotten at Niagara Falls once.

 

            “It’s a conspiracy,” he agreed, returning his attention (mostly) to his work. “You should demand answers, stage peaceful protests and sit-ins. You’d garner a lot of attention that way.”

 

            Rey rolled her eyes. “It _is_ a conspiracy! Take it seriously.”

 

            He chuckled. “I am! Whatever made you think otherwise?”

 

            She smiled. “Shut up.”

 

            She began to softly chew her bottom lip in deep thought. There was something she was dying to bring up but she refused to be obvious about it. The only problem was Ben was intelligent and able to see through most of her plots as if they were glass. She looked at him. His eyes were downcast, busily studying page after page. She couldn’t help but notice he had one more button than normal undone on his white cotton shirt. She didn’t remember it being undone when she had seen him in the parking lot that morning.

 

            She cleared her throat softly. “So, can I ask a tiny favour of you?” She gave him her best puppy dog eyes—without being obvious about it.

 

            He looked up from his work. “Depends…what is it?”

 

            She pretended to be highly interested in her cuticles. “Well, I took a taxi to work because my car wouldn’t start this morning—”

 

            “Did you forget to plug it in?” he asked bluntly. “You know you have to plug uncovered cars in during the winter.”

 

            She squinted at him. “…I was tired when I got home yesterday, okay? _Anyways_ , I really dislike taxis and was brutally reminded of that this morning as I watched my driver nearly get into five fender-benders and two head-on collisions. So would you be able to give me a lift home after work?”

 

            Ben blinked at her. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

 

            “I know you probably want to keep your distance from me,” she said. “You have an image here I’m sure you want to protect and I don’t want to impose myself on you when things are the way they are between us. I just, I know people will stare and whisper because that’s just what most of them do around here for kicks. I’d hate to put you in a position where you felt you had to address any rumours or whatever. So you can say no, I’ll understand. But I just thought I’d ask you while I’m here…”

 

            He examined her face even while it refused to turn to him. _Of course_ , he thought, _she needs a yes or no answer._ If he said he’d take her home, it meant he wasn’t afraid to start any rumours about them or be seen getting close to her. If he said no, they had no hope. He knew what would make her happy of course, but would it make him happy? She was right; everyone would whisper. Could he handle hearing it behind his back? No, he really didn’t think he could. He knew people talked about him, but at least they had the decency to pretend like they didn’t. He really didn’t want to throw a wrench into the works when they were running so smoothly. He repressed a sigh. Not only did she want something definitive, but everyone else would, too.

 

            “Yes, I’ll take you home,” he said.

 

            Her face lit up like the Fourth of July, just like he hoped it would.

 

            “Really? Oh, thank you, Ben.” She leaned over to kiss his forehead.

 

            It was his turn to clear his throat. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

 

            She shrugged. “I had time for an hour break today. I’m not going to pass that up.” She looked at him accusingly. “Shouldn’t you be…breaking?”

 

            He gave her a funny look. “Oh, you want me to go on break with you now after you’ve already been in here talking with me for twenty minutes?”

 

            She sighed. “Well, I can tell when I’m no longer wanted,” She slid off his desk with a dramatic flair.

 

            “Now, now,” Ben blurted out, stepping out from behind his desk, “let’s not get too hasty.” He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back until she felt the edge of his desk on her backside.

 

            “Oh, but I thought…you were just complaining about…” She smirked elfishly.

 

            “I was not complaining,” he said. “I was merely making a sarcastic statement. Do you know me at all?”

 

            “I know you enough,” she answered.

 

            “Oh, so then you know what I want?” His lips brushed her throat and his words were hot on her skin. “What I’m planning?”

 

            She swallowed, furrowing her brow. _Surely he didn’t mean…_ “…At work?” she asked quietly.

 

            “Why not?” Ben grinned devilishly. “No one will walk in; the door is locked. The blinds are drawn. You wanted me to take a break, so why don’t you take it with me right here on my desk?”

 

            She wanted to, she really did. She delighted in the feeling of his hands on her body again. It was all she could think about since the Christmas party. But she pushed him back a little, staring at him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

 

            He tilted his head. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

 

            “It looks like you’re teasing sex at work, which is something the real Ben would never do,” Rey answered. “Who are you?”

 

            He chuckled. “A government robot, sent to detect rebels against our policy to always put the milk in before the cereal.”

 

            She shoved him playfully. “Really, what are you up to?”

 

            “Nothing,” Ben answered, taking hold of her waist again. “I just thought, with all the privacy, I might take an opportunity to kiss you. You know, while there’s no one around to start whispers.”

 

            Her lips were warm and soft against his. His office dissipated around him until there was nothing left but the two of them. He relished in their kiss; breathing her air and getting swept up in her intoxicating presence. He could have stayed like that for hours but they were interrupted by a loud, incessant beeping noise that was coming from Rey’s pocket. With clumsy fingers she dug the pager out and squinted at the small screen. When she looked at him again her face was apologetic.

 

            “I have a client meeting,” she said sadly. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”

 

            He groaned. “Is it that important?”

 

            “Important enough for a meeting,” she sighed, stepping away from the desk and pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. “I’ll meet you here after work and we can go, okay?”

 

            He nodded stiffly. “Right, yeah. I’ll see you then.”

 

            She gave him a smile before leaving. Softly, he touched his fingers to his lips and returned to his desk to work away the time until she’d be back.

 

 

 

            By the time he finished work he was beyond ready to go home. His eyes ached with strain from reading line after line after line of words and his hand had a painful cramp in it from gripping a pen all day. He just tried to tell himself he shouldn’t complain; he was in an office with heat and a view.

 

            Just as he was packing up his bag a knock sounded at his door. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

 

            “Come in.”

 

            Rey poked her head through his door before stepping in. “Hey, are you ready?”

 

            He did the last clip on his bag, threw the strap over his shoulder and nodded. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

 

            They walked towards the elevator, Ben lagging behind a little. _Now or never_ , he told himself. _Pick a moment and go._

 

            “Ben? Before you go, I need your signature on a couple of faxes that just came through.”

 

            Ben halted at the voice of his secretary, trying his best not to scowl at the interruption. He motioned to Rey that he’d only be a second and drug his feet over to the front desk.

 

            “Here, and here,” she said, pointing to the X’s on the pages.

 

            Ben hastily scribbled his signature on both. “Is that all?”

 

            “Um, there’s a couple messages for you, do you want those right now?”

 

            Ben dismissed them with a wave. “No. I’ll look at them tomorrow.”

 

            “Oh, okay—”

 

            He walked away from the receptionist without another word and put his arm around Rey’s shoulders. “Sorry about that,” he said, ducking down to place a quick kiss on her mouth, much to her astonishment. “Let’s go.”

 

            He quickly cast a look behind him to find his receptionist’s eyes looking as large as dinner plates. _Good,_ he thought, _she’ll tell everyone._

 

            As they stood before the elevator doors waiting, Rey whispered to him, “Did you mean to do that?”

 

            He was smiling broadly, satisfied with himself thus far. But he knew he could take it further. “Of course I meant to do that.” He intertwined his fingers with hers. “If they’re going to talk, I want to make sure they’re talking about the truth and not a baseless rumour. Now there is eyewitnesses who know the truth. Do you see what I’m getting at here?”

 

            The elevator door opened. Rey was blushing as they stepped inside. “I think so.”

 

            “Good.”

 

Ben made sure to keep a smile on his face as he watched all the eyes in the room staring back at them until the doors closed and the deed was done.

           


	12. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any office fans notice any inspo in this chapter???  
> And yes, this is the final chapter of this fic! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it, bookmark it, and comment on it. I hope you enjoyed it to some degree. If you want to check out more of my stuff, I have a Senator/Jedi AU on here called Translucence! Feel free to give that a read; it's only just getting started.  
> *sorry for any typos/mistakes. I'm too tired to do a full edit right now.

_3 years, 6 months later,_

_Ben’s office_

 

Ben had forgotten he was furiously shaking his leg up and down until his calf started to ache in protest. With a groan he gave it a rest and, for the hundredth time that day, picked up the photo on his desk. Earlier that week he had been smiling fondly at the photo, but on that day he frowned before putting it back on his desk. _Where is she?_ He thought, gazing curiously at the smiling girl in the picture. She had her arms draped over Ben’s shoulders as they kneeled in fine, warm sand, the shocking blue of the Caribbean stretching out for miles in the background. Even he was smiling in the picture. It had been their first vacation together, and one of the best so far. It seemed so long ago now.

 

He checked his watch. 4:48 PM. Rey’s fight was supposed to land an hour and a half ago and she was supposed to come straight to the office when she got in, that had been their deal. But she wasn’t there yet and her phone was still turned off, as many failed calls had proved. _Stupid,_ Ben grumbled to himself. _A week-long business trip to Florida? And why did they have to send her to do it?_ Since they got together, Ben and Rey spent very little time apart. So for her to be gone for a week made Ben feel like a whole part of him was missing. It was uncomfortable and it caused him more stress every single day.

 

He sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. He felt anxious and the weight in his pants pocket made him nervous on top of it all. He took the small leather ring box out of his pocket and turned it around a couple times in his hand. Truthfully, he had been thinking of asking Rey to marry him for three years, but it hadn’t felt like the right time until four months ago, when he came home sore and tired from a late night in the office to a clean house, a homemade meal in the microwave for him to heat up, and an exhausted Rey, sleeping on the couch with her apron still on. That was when he knew he was ready. He bought the ring the next day.

 

He had spent weeks trying to figure out how to propose, when to do it, and where. Initially, he had wanted to incorporate _Jane Eyre_ into it and he was going to buy a new copy, cut a hole through the pages and put the ring in there. But then he got looking online and things like that had been done and overdone. He wanted something special that would not only signify his feelings for her and their relationship, but also to see that dimpled smile he had fallen in love with. So he thought about it some more and came to a suitable conclusion which involved him telling everyone on his floor about his plans. Understandably, this made him nervous. Not as nervous as actually asking the damn question made him, however.

 

Restless and distracted, he left his office. He walked over to Reception and tapped his fingers on the desk. The new receptionist, Nancy, swivelled around in her chair to face him.

 

“Oh, she’s not here yet, Mr. Solo,” she said. Ben didn’t react to her using his last name. For the past three years he’d been thinking of how nice it would sound attached to Rey’s name, and it made his resentment gradually disappear.

 

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “Will everything be ready in time? I’m just wondering because it really won’t take us that long to get back up here and then—”

 

Nancy silenced him with a finger pointing to his office. He turned around to see some of his clever coworkers walking in there carrying boxes.

 

“Looks like they’re already on it,” she said. “Anyway, it shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.”

 

“I just wish I knew where she was,” Ben mumbled.

 

“I’m sure she’ll be here in the next few minutes, sir. Why don’t you go for a walk outside; get some fresh air and relax a bit?”

 

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know about the relax part, but it couldn’t hurt to get out of here for a minute.”

 

“That’s right. Off you go, we’ve got it here.”

 

It was a cool, windy day with cloudy skies, but the air smelled like autumn leaves and freshly cut grass. Ben shoved his hands in his pants pockets, fiddling with the ring box in his right. He started to kick an empty pop can while he walked, strangely satisfied by the sharp clunking noise it made as it bounced along the cement. The wind was throwing both his hair and his tie back, but he didn’t mind it. He found the gentle bite it left on his skin woke him up and rebooted his brain. He lost track of time for a bit while he was out there. Suddenly he wasn’t sure if he’d been outside for ten minutes or twenty. But the sound of car tires pulling up to the curb out front alerted him that he wasn’t alone anymore. He could hear voices, although they were significantly warped by the wind. His heart leapt into his throat and he jogged around to the front to find Rey stepping out of the backseat of a taxi, yanking her suitcase with her and trying to keep her jacket closed around her as the wind threatened to throw it open.

 

“Rey!” Ben shouted, then again louder to make up for the racket. “Rey!”

 

She turned around with a look of puzzlement on her face that transformed into immense happiness when she spotted Ben running towards her. He picked her up in his arms and twirled her around, squeezing her tight like he hadn’t seen her in months. They shared a kiss before either of them said a word.

 

“I missed you so much,” Rey said breathlessly. “Next time I have to go away, you’re coming with me. Florida sucked by myself.”

 

Ben laughed. “I agree. A week here without you sucked.”

 

“Are we a little co-dependent?” Rey asked.

 

“Just a little,” Ben shrugged. He grabbed her suitcase in his right hand and used his left hand to hold hers. “Come on, let’s get out of the wind.”

 

He brought her into the warehouse, which had been all cleaned the night before by the staff (along with Ben). There were tall white candles and tea lights set up in little groups all over the place. Rey was speechless, looking at it all. Her first instinct of course was to ask why there were candles in the warehouse, but she found herself stricken useless.

 

Ben put a gentle hand on the small of her back. He spoke much softer now. “This is where we attended our first party together,” he said. “It was St. Patrick’s Day, and you were dressed up all festive. You looked like a little leprechaun, but I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.”

 

Rey smirked at him.

 

Ben now pointed to the garage door. “And just past that door is where I punched a guy for you. That was when I knew I was in too deep to pull myself back out.”

 

Rey smiled, remembering the event, despite how slightly traumatized she had felt from it all. She remembered how flattered she had felt in spite of herself because Ben had defended her as if on instinct. It had made her feel light as air.

 

“Come on, there’s more to show you,” Ben said, urging her towards the door into the office building.

 

“You must really have missed me to go to all this trouble,” Rey finally spoke. “All I got you was a fridge magnet and a coffee mug from Miami.”

 

Ben chuckled. “And they’ll both be my favourite items.”

 

They ducked into the elevator which had little paper hearts dangling on strings from the ceiling. A few of them rested on the top of Ben’s head when he got in. Rey plucked at one with her fingers, pleasantly astonished by it all.

 

“This is the elevator I would get into every day at work and when you went up to the writing department, I would hope with all I had that you’d be in here, too. I regretted the decision to promote you so much for my own selfish reasons. I kicked myself over that for months.”

 

Rey put a hand on his cheek. “Ben, it’s alright.”

 

“It is now,” he smiled.

 

The elevator opened to their floor, which had more white candles all over the place and the entirety of the floor’s staff standing there grinning at the two of them, all holding candles.

 

Rey’s heart did a strange flutter then and she put a hand to her mouth. Something was happening. Something was _really_ happening, and she was only just realizing it. This wasn’t just another one of Ben’s romantic gestures, this was _the_ romantic gesture. Tears sprung to her eyes as they walked out on the floor and she tried to hold them back but she knew they were coming no matter what.

 

“This floor is where I met you and where I grew to know you,” Ben said quietly at her side, squeezing her hand. “It’s where I would make up excuses to come out of my office just to see you out here, even when I had loads of work to do. I don’t know how many times I called reception to ask for you in my office for no particular reason.”

 

“He still does that,” Nancy spoke up, giving a little wink.

 

Rey laughed tearfully.

 

Ben gestured towards their coworkers. “These are the people that, without you, I never would’ve gotten to know half as well as I do now. This is where you taught me to care. This is where you taught me to be softer and you reintroduced me to true happiness.”

 

Rey was crying freely now, clutching onto Ben for dear life. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her cheeks hurt from smiling so wide.

 

“Come on, we have one more stop to make and it’s a big one,” Ben said, urging her along to his office.

 

When Ben opened the door, Rey gasped at what she saw. The entire room was lit up with tiered white candles of all different sizes. All the flammables had been put away and candles covered the entire top of his desk. They lined the bookshelves and flickered in the windows; they were even carefully placed around the floor. The room felt pleasantly warm and it was quiet. There was a faint vanilla scent in the air that Rey breathed in deeply. Ben took her hands, recapturing her attention.

 

“And finally,” he said, “this is where I fell in love with you.”

 

She began crying tears of happiness all over again.

 

“You know, I had a lot of issues growing up. My dad was never around and my mom was chronically busy. I had no friends, no one to go to or lean on. I had myself, and that was it. I didn’t intend on ever loving anyone the way I love you. It just happened one day, as if on accident. But I don’t think it was any accident.

 

“Do you remember when you first came here and I read the entirety of _Jane Eyre_ because of you? Well, a line from that book resonates with me now. ‘I have for the first time found what I can truly love. I have found you. You are my sympathy, my better self…’

 

“You’ve brought me back into the light and for that I want to give back to you all that you have given to me.” Ben reached into his pocket and descended to one knee. Rey sharply breathed in, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. “I promise to live his life by your side, if you’ll let me. I promise to make you as happy as you can possibly be, every single day that we’re together, if you’ll only promise to be my wife.”

 

He opened the small leather box to expose a stunning engagement ring. The band was thin and silver, and set upon it were two smaller diamonds, placed on either side of one slightly larger diamond, and it all sparkled and winked at her in the light. It was delicate and simple but it was also breathtaking and _hers_.

 

Fervently, she nodded her head. “Yes,” she cried, “yes I promise.”

 

He slid the ring onto her finger and they quickly embraced. Rey sobbed happily into his shoulder to tumultuous applause and cheers from outside the office—everyone had been anxiously watching from the hall windows.

 

She could hardly believe it; neither could he. To think what had started out as a basic internship had turned into something so important to the both of them.

 

In that moment, they were both happier than they had ever known they could be.


End file.
